Presenting the Burgess High School Band
by TheCloverhand
Summary: Human Marching Band AU. Aster Springslin is the Burgess Marching Hawk Band's newest drum major. And so is Pitch Black. With a semester ahead of football games, pep rallies, parades & concerts to deal with, the two teens can't stop butting heads. As Jack, Tiana, Kris, and Sandy watch the madness ensue, they still try to have fun in their final year in marching band.
1. Sun, Seniors, and Salutes

Hey there! Welcome!

Just need to point out a thing or two. I altered certain characters' names so they'd be more appropriate for this AU.

E. Aster Bunnymund= Aster Springslin

Pitch Black= Pitchiner "Pitch" Black

North= Kris North

Toothiana= Tiana Helija

And that's about it. Jack and Sandy didn't get a name change so… Yup!

Enjoy and don't forget to review and do super cool stuff like that!

* * *

Today was a great day.

Beautifully sunny, not a cloud in the sky, heat rolling off in waves across the pavement. It was perfect weather for swimming, or going to a theme park, or maybe just going to town.

For the members of the Burgess High School Marching Band, however, it was torture.

The sun bore down with all its might, causing all the juniors and senior to take refuge in what little shade they had in the almost barren parking lot. A few lucky sophomores got to sit amongst them, having had enough sense to make friends with the upperclassmen. Most of the freshman were sprawled out across the parking lot, sitting on the white spray painted lines that represented the football field.

Still, Aster loved it.

He surveyed the band it is entirety from his podium, remarking to himself that it was his first and last year to be drum major. Seniority definitely had its ups and down, with the whiny freshman that never listened and the emotional juniors that had to watch their mentors leave. But he knew if he wanted total control over the band, he'd have to do it right. The seniors tended to lash out at their drum major if they were a year younger, and his short temper would not allow the teasing and sass that would come along with that. He'd probably be kicked out of band altogether if he'd auditioned for last year.

So, he didn't, and Mr. Rollan was happy of it. Sorta. Aster was the best percussionist in the drumline, having been able to master timpani and xylophone for the sake of All-Region and All-State tryouts. He'd gotten in ever since his sophomore year. Naturally, Mr. Rollan had frowned when Aster stepped into his office at the beginning of last year and told him just what he planned to do. But then he shrugged it off, saying, "I figured as much. You're a great musician and I can't wait to see how this year and the one after that plays out. Come and see me every chance you get. We've got quite a few people auditioning this year, and with only two spots, it'll surely be a challenge."

Low and behold, he'd gotten it only after he promised Mr. Rollan he'd still work on his instrumentation in his free time. Just because he was drum major didn't mean that he'd get to skip out on all his auditions. Not that he wanted to. Having All-Region and All-State under your belt was pretty useful in applying for college, and he planned on utilizing it.

Aster was jerked out of his thoughts when he felt someone shake the base of podium, causing the youth to gasp and right himself.

"Careful, Aster. Wouldn't want the band to be without the other drum major now would we?" A mischievous British accent beckoned to him from below.

He knew who it was before he even bothered to glance down. Pitchiner "Pitch" Black stared up at him, a wild smile on his face, clad completely in black even though it had to be in the nineties.

Pitch played clarinet in band. Or at least he _did._ He ended up auditioning for drum major last year and apparently Mr. Rollan was a poorly confused and oblivious man because he ended up making Pitch the second drum major, must to Aster's distaste.

Aster managed to smile, forcing it on his face, because he surely did not want to start out the year with anyone on bad terms. Even if that someone was the arrogant and rude Pitch Black. "No. We wouldn't. Y'know what Rollan says. Even if we're missing just one person, we're not really a marching band." _Although I think we'd be able to get along just fine without you, ya bloody creep._

A shrill whistle pierced the air, twice in short bursts. Everyone jumped, even Pitch and Aster, and turned their attention in the direction of the sound.

Mr. Rollan strolled up to the parking lot, looking at a clipboard. He was a middle-aged man, rail-thin and incredibly talented at playing saxophone. He wore clip-on sunglasses over his normal square shaped wire ones (obviously the fashion statement of the century), tennis shoes, a t-shirt with the band's logo from last year's show on it, and a pair of blue jeans. A silver whistle hung on a school given lanyard around his neck. After checking something on the clipboard, he shot a look at Aster and Pitch. Raising his eyebrows, he smiled and shouted to the two teens. "Pitch, I believe you have a podium of your own! No need to gang up on Aster's! C'mon let's go, go, go! We gotta get this show on the road!"

Pitch grimaced, turning around to jog to the left side of the field, where his podium stood. Once he began to climb up the short ladder, Mr. Rollan started to speak again.

"Hello! For those of you that are new to the Burgess Marching Hawk Band, whether you be a freshman or a transferred student that's been in band before, I would like to introduce myself and a couple of other important people you'll be dealing with this year." Mr. Rollan took off his glasses, his trademark habit that meant he was ready to deal with real marching band business, and hooked them onto the collar of his t-shirt. "I'm Mr. Rollan, the band director. Here in a little bit, you'll meet out color guard coach, Mrs. Daley, along with the color guard itself. These two lovely and talented people up here are your drum majors. This one right here," Mr. Rollan stated, pointing at Aster and squinting in the sunlight. "is Aster. He was in percussion. And he's from Australia, so no monkey business because this guy is sure to give you a run for your money."

The seniors laughed, the juniors smiled, the sophomores simply watched, and the freshman had their full attention on Aster. A small group of freshman flute players whispered to each other, most likely gossiping about Aster's looks. He'd been able to maintain a constant group of freshman girls last year, too, that followed him around and were always asking questions and saying things and trying to sit by him on the band bus.

He really hoped that his drum major status would ward them off a bit; drum majors also had a way of intimidating the beginning marchers.

"And this guy over here, is Pitchiner Black. Also known as Pitch. He played woodwind last year, clarinet specifically. And he's British, because the band likes to add a bit of spice to the lovely mix that is marching band." As he said the last sentence, he threw up his thumbs in a cheesy way that practically screamed the word r_adical_ and got a pretty good laugh out of the band.

Pitch rolled his eyes, a bit embarrassed for the man. Why did he feel the need to lower himself like that? He was a fantastic musician. It was a shame that he'd chosen to become a music educator.

Mr. Rollan grabbed his glasses from his collar and slipped them back on as the laughter died out. Clapping his hands once, he cleared his throat. "Alright! Let's do this! Aster, Pitch, once everyone gets settled on a yard line, call them to attention."

Aster nodded and Pitch grabbed his whistle and placed it in his mouth.

They watched everyone scatter after ditching their horns on the grassy ground the trees were planted on in the parking lot. Mr. Rollan had written on the board to bring them out, but to leave them behind when they first began.

His friend and senior trombone player Kris North looked up at his friend, giving him a toothy grin. Aster returned it with a smirk. Kris had helped him by pushing all sorts of music onto him to practice conducting with. He even sat up one night with Aster trying to figure out if a song was in 3/4 time or in 4/4, as the conducting for those two time signatures were different.

"Alright, you guys. Let's see that salute and hear that command!" Mr. Rolland called out happily.

The two boys turned around, as if facing the home side of the football field and Pitch and Aster looked at each other, hands now curled into fists at their hips, elbows jutted out. They looked away, anticipating the next move. Aster began the count off, like he would at all the football games soon to come. "ONE, TWO, THREE, FOUR, FIVE, SIX, SE-VEN, EIGHT!"

Together, they went through all of the hand motions they'd been working on all summer with the help of Mr. Rollan. The bent up their arms, twisting them the same way into something that looked like a one-sided secret handshake, then stuck their arms out right at their sides, bending each one a different way so that one would end up back on their hip and the other on their forehead, hand flattened out for a salute. They waited a beat, before closing the fist and snapping it back down on their hip. Another beat and they turned back around, whistles in their mouths. Two beats, and they shouted in loud, booming voices. "BAND! ATTEN-HUT!"

The older members of band all snapped their feet together, hands grasping invisible instruments. "ONE!" All the freshman looked around, slightly confused as they got into the same position as their fellow band-mates.

Mr. Rolland watched them with interested eyes. "Okay, for all you dazed and confused people out there, when that command is called you are to go to attention. That means you stand exactly like your upperclassmen are right now and you _do not move!_ If you move, then you put yourself, and your section, at risk for running a lap or two around the parking lot. Got it? Good. Aster. Pitch. That was great. Everybody let 'em know how good they did." He told them, clapping his hands above his head.

"WOO!" someone shouted, and the entire band hooted and hollered. Some threw fists up in the air, and others yelled out positive reinforcement.

Aster broke his tough-guy face that he held to look more serious and smiled as he faced the band.

Pitch smirked, just drinking in all the attention.

This was definitely going to be a year to remember.


	2. Scale Utility Vehicle

A week went by in summer rehearsals, the freshmen learning the names of their section leaders, and about Mrs. Daley (who was a very lively and proud woman by the way), and everyone else was already feeling the rising tension between Aster and Pitch.

But right now, there was something else on Jack Frost's mind.

_Really? An 'actively entertaining' show? That's what you're calling it, Rallon?_

Mr. Rallon had revealed this year's show at the end of last year, but Jack still couldn't get over it. Their band director had managed to slap together three pieces from a movie called _Cloud Atlas_. He'd heard of the movie, even tried watching it, but he just couldn't get into it. Mr. Rallon had them listen to a few snippets of the OST before summer break, and although he admitted it had a great sound- fantastic actually, he just couldn't imagine it being portrayed by a marching band.

So when he practiced over the summer, the brunette was shocked to say the least.

It sounded great when he played it on his trumpet.

It was even better when everyone hustled into the band room after an hour and half outside marching and played it on the first day. Heavy percussion, blaring low brass, screaming woodwinds, and of course a couple of trumpet solos were jam-packed into what he was now sure to be a riveting show.

But when the band director mentioned that he was going to incorporate certain movements that were deemed unusual by old school marching standards, Jack couldn't help but make a face.

They were a _marching _band! Not a dancing band! What was with Mr. Rallon lately?

First Pitch as drum major and now this? The older man was certainly going insane.

"We will be creeping, crawling, creeping, crawling… And then SNAP! All at attention! Crowd'll get a kick out of that, and as you all know we aim to please." Mr. Rallon chattered enthusiastically.

The color guard was situated at the back of the band room, listening because Mrs. Daley wanted them to get a look-see at what their marching counterparts were up to. A junior girl with an overly-peppy smile and uppity attitude shot her hand into the air, exclaiming with horrendous joy, "You should make them stretch before practice!"

Dozens of glares were immediately shot at the invasive girl. The color guard and marching band got along pretty well, until someone started making stupid comments.

Mr. Rallon let out a small laugh, not exactly happy with being interrupted, before speaking. "Uh, no. No, we'll not be doing anything too strenuous. Thanks for the tip though, Amber."

Jack smiled, happy to see that Mr. Rallon also found the girl annoying, even though he'd never come right out and say it.

"Oh, Mr. Rallon, my captain has a suggestion and I think it's a great idea!" Mrs. Daley announced, gesturing to a slight girl with dirty blonde hair that was pulled up into a perfect bun.

The girl smiled her performing smile, the one that said _I am really uncomfortable right now but if I don't do this then I'll get a lap during next rehearsal._ Her oddly violet eyes flashed before she waved stiffly. "Uh. Yeah, hi. I'm Tiana, for those of you that don't know." She put her hand down and held them together behind her back.

Jack sighed, feeling sorry for the poor girl. He'd been in band with Tiana and was good friends with her for years now and she still hadn't gotten used to having a reasonable amount of attention on her and only her.

"I was just wondering, Mr. Rallon, if it'd be okay if maybe we helped the band out a bit this year. You know, have a couple of practices after school solely for the more active parts of the drills. I think it'd help our chances of getting a one this year at Region."

Mr. Rallon snapped his right fingers loudly before pointing at Tiana. "Yes! Great idea! Mrs. Daley, I'll converse with you after rehearsal about that." The band director frowned, noticing all the sour expressions the band elicited at their stands, unable to look him in the eye. "Hey, guys, come on! This is band! It's fun! We're gonna have a great time with this I promise!"

Aster and Pitch stood behind Mr. Rallon, both leaned up against the wall. "Oh, what a joy this'll be." Pitch muttered under his breath.

Aster heard his snide comment and had to fight the urge to blatantly ask him what his problem was. Really though, what was it? He really didn't understand why people joined band, only to hate it. And he especially didn't understand why someone who hated it so much decided to become an upstanding person in it.

"Alright, let's get started on our scales. Everyone have their SUV?" Mr. Rallon questioned, eyebrows lifted and waiting for a response.

The freshmen simply giggled at the name of their warm-up sheet.

Jack couldn't help but roll his eyes, smiling a bit. It was funny, he had to admit. It took him a whole year to realize that SUV did in fact stand for Scale Utility Vehicle, as it said so at the top of the small sheet of music.. He'd gotten quite the kick out of it, excitedly asking his friends if they'd noticed.

"Nope? Okay, let's go in order shall we…"

The band began playing the first of the three scales they usually ran through before practice, and Jack couldn't help but glance up at the two new drum majors.

Aster held himself in a high manner, face straight and incredibly focused. His conducting was smooth but also pointedly showed where each beat was. His sun-bleached hair began to fall in his eyes, but he didn't budge to get it out of his vision.

Pitch, however, smiled in snarky way. It was as if he were waiting for the band to mess up so he could stop and laugh about it. He didn't have to worry about his hair falling in his face; it was black and buzzed short, only about a centimeter long and gave him a certain air that honestly scared Jack a bit.

They were total opposites, able to get the band's attention in their own unique ways. Anybody could tell which one did it for the best, and which one did it because he enjoyed telling people they were wrong.

If Pitch got on Jack's bad side, freaky haircut or not, he was _not_ going to deal with it. Especially with his cousin in the band with him.

Jamie Bennett was a junior in the pit that played the glockenspiel. He and Jack had always been together because of their family relation, and people even assumed they were brothers from time to time because of their matching brown hair and eyes. Friendship was an easy thing for them, but strangely enough, Jamie had yet to even speak to him at rehearsal. Actually, now that Jack thought about it, it seemed that the young pit member was avoiding him at all costs. Whenever Jack had tried to approach him on the first day of practice, Jamie simply looked at him blankly and wondered off before Jack could even say hello.

As they finished up the scale, Jack made a mental to note try again before this practice was done, maybe invite Jamie over later that night so they could hang out.

* * *

AUTHOR'S NOTE: For those of you wondering what the show tunes are, here's a list.

1st song: Prelude: The Atlas March- Cloud Atlas Original Motion Picture Soundtrack

2nd song: Sonmi-451 Meets Chang- Cloud Atlas Original Motion Picture Soundtrack

3rd song: Cloud Atlas Finale- Cloud Atlas Original Motion Picture Soundtrack

Thanks for reading and don't forget to review and stuff :D


	3. Last Summer Rehearsal

"We've had a great month of practice, you guys. I can tell that we have a hard-working band this year. Last year's seniors are gonna be impressed when they visit us during games." Mr. Rallon stood before the band in the band room, a satisfied smile on his face.

It was the Friday before school began, and summer practice had ended. The band had gotten their schedules and their first game wasn't until two weeks after the first day of school. They had a total of nine games, five at home, four away. One of the away games was against their rival school, and everyone hated the idea of having to march on their enemies' field. Evermont High School was Burgess's #1 rival, and good sportsmanship was non-existent when the two teams played each other. Even the band kids hated each other and would call each other names and throw trash at them when their band directors weren't looking.

No matter, it would still be fun. At least that was what Tiana hoped.

After Mr. Rallon lectured the band about what he expected and praised the band for doing good, he passed out band shirts. "First game is no uniform, like usual. We'll take care of uniforms sometime next week. Until then, these t-shirts and pair of nice jeans are your uniform. I'll go over the specifics on what to wear that first game the week before."

He handed them out by section, working his way from the woodwinds to percussion to guard.

Tiana took the black t-shirt in her hands, silently resenting the dark color. Black clothing got the hottest, and she did not handle heat while performing all that well. Something about having all those eyes on her and sweating just made her stomach twist with nerves.

The logo on the front was written in white elegant script: _The 2013 Burgess High School Band Presents: CLOUD ATLAS._ A cluster of notes that swirled around each other was displayed below the logo, and underneath the notes was something else in smaller font: _Everything is connected._

Tiana grinned. She loved this year's show and the movie it was based on. She'd gotten the CD over the summer and shamelessly listened to it on repeat for days. The routine Mr. Rallon had come up with for the band was great too.

And also pretty funny to watch.

The guard got to stand on the sideline, leaned up against their flags as they watched Rallon teach the kids how to 'creep-crawl' as he had called it.

First, he divided the field up into three parts that were to represent past, present, and future throughout the show. Each division got their chance to shine during one of the songs. First one was woodwinds, second one was percussion and pit, third one was brass.

The percussion had the most simple parts out of the rest of the band because of their limited mobility, only having to step out widely and lean forward. They looked like they were bending over to tell someone a secret, heads cocked a bit and back turned slightly. The pit did what they always did, jamming out and bobbing their heads as they played up front.

The woodwinds and brass, however, had to jump around and master the art of waving their hands without throwing throw instruments halfway across the field. The trumpets had a fairly amusing part, having to bend down and hold their instruments at attention whilst leading the entirety of the brass, including the tubas who waved their bells from side to side as they followed. They looked like they were trying to sneak underneath something and didn't want to be seen.

The woodwinds had to spin and jump, careful not to whack each other with their instruments. For once, the band had to be weary of itself and not just the guard as far as getting hit went.

At one point, a saxophone fell over and three others tumbled down with it. At another point, someone was nearly decapitated by a clarinet that was being flung by an all-too-eager freshman.

The band definitely needed the guard's help with coordination.

She flipped the t-shirt over to see something she'd been waiting to see for years. In big bold letters across the top of the back, **COLORGUARD CAPTAIN** was printed in white.

Mrs. Daley noticed the young captain's excitement as she stared at the piece of fabric in her hands. Leaning over, she congratulated her. "Good job, Tiana. You deserve it and I'm looking forward to seeing you out on field."

Tiana didn't fight the grin spreading across her face, a genuine one this time that wasn't like the one she put on for the sake of points and entertainment. "Thanks."

"Okay, that's it for today. Enjoy what little bit is left of your summer and keep practicing. Just because there's only a couple of days until you'll be doing it in class doesn't mean you don't have to play." Mr. Rallon told the band as they began to stand up, grabbing their music and stands. "Also, hey! Let's try and get the stands all organized before you all run off. We want the band room to look nice when we come back on Monday, right?"

Mrs. Daley waved at the girls dismissively. "That's a wrap. Be sure to put your flags, rifles, and batons in the right bins, girls. See you in school."

The girls dispersed, going into the back of the band room where the extra-practice-room-turned-flag-storage-room was. As Tiana was heading out, purse slung over her shoulder, she bumped into a another senior.

"Excuse me, _captain_." A nasally voice hissed.

Tiana looked up to see Stella, the sole majorette and co-captain of the color guard staring right at her. Her dark brown hair was falling out of her ponytail and over the hazel-eyed scowl she was now giving Tiana. "Oh, sorry."

Stella had been hoping to be chosen as the captain and instead got co-captain. She was very good at spinning and Mrs. Daley had decided to have her try her hand at being majorette. It turned out she was good at that too, but having only transferred to Burgess her sophomore year lessened her chances of being captain.

Tiana had heard her complain to her friends over the course of summer rehearsals about how that was the only reason why Tiana was captain. Of course, the captain ignored her and chose to focus on helping the freshmen instead.

Stella huffed a frustrated breath and shoved her way past Tiana and into the storage room.

"Jeez." Tiana mumbled, shaking her head and walking towards the exit of the band room.

A senior that was putting up their instrument glanced up at her, wide eyed behind a set of glasses. They looked at her questioningly, wondering if they were commenting on something they were doing. The short guy wasn't doing anything except zipping up his mellophone case innocently.

Tiana caught his glance and winced. "Sorry, I wasn't talking to you." She gestured at his case. "Carry on."

The guy stood there for a moment, debating on his next move. Picking up his case with his left hand, he straightened up, and ran over to the color guard member. He tapped her on the shoulder with his right hand, trying to get her attention.

She whipped around, and was surprised to see Mellophone-Dude smiling at her. "Oh." Was all she could muster.

He held out a hand, mouth curled into a grin. Tiana looked at his hand and then at his face before laughing a bit, taking his hand and shaking it. "You're new here, aren't you?"

The guy nodded, happy that she knew. He let go of her hand and lifted up his case, showing her the name tag attached to the handle. Tiana squinted her eyes at the small black handwriting.

_Sanderson Mansnoozie_

"Oh, nice to meet you Sanderson."

Sanderson shook his head and flipped over the name tag, where another word was scrawled.

Tiana read it aloud, "Sandy. Ah, I see. A nickname?" She asked.

Sandy smiled again in response.

Tiana regarded him carefully as other band members walked past her to leave. "You don't talk much do you?"

The golden-haired teen shook his head silently in response.

The girl shrugged. "Well, alright then. If you ever need help or have a question, I'm willing to listen. I have to go now, but I'll see you on Monday." She waved at him before turning and leaving the band room.

Sandy watched her leave, amazed that she didn't press him for reasons as to why he didn't talk. For once, someone had acknowledged that he was mute without being over-bearing.

It was nice.


	4. First Day of School (pt 1)

"I'm telling you, something is up." Jack said to Tiana as they walked inside the front entrance to the school building.

"Jack, we went through a lot of stuff our junior year. Maybe he's just… adjusting for the moment." Tiana told him, even though she also wasn't sure why Jamie had ignored Jack.

Jack groaned as he jerked open the door and held it open for Tiana. "It's been a month though. That's plenty of time to adjust. And it's not like I haven't made an effort. I called him awhile back and he made up some stupid excuse about cleaning his room. The kid's a neat freak, so it's always clean. I'm worried."

Tiana frowned as she walked to her new locker, Jack tagging along behind her. "Then confront him about it." She got out a sheet of paper from her messenger bag, searching for her new combination to her lock. After she successfully opened it, she began placing her books inside.

"You're a wizard." Jack said. "I tried to open these damn things during open house and it wouldn't work."

The school had gotten new lockers over the summer. Instead of buying a lock to put on your handle, you had to open one that was built into your locker. A lot of people had trouble opening them, but Tiana figured it out pretty quickly with the help of her dad.

Tiana rolled her eyes and held out her hand. "Give me your sheet and show me where your locker is."

Jack grinned, taking off his backpack to retrieve the piece of paper. As he did that, Tiana snatched the sunglasses Jack was wearing off of his head. "Hey!" Jack said, only glancing up for a moment and then going back to searching for the paper.

"You look ridiculous when you wear those inside."

"No, I look and feel freaking awesome." He retorted, pulling out a folded sheet of paper. "Which is something I need to relieve myself of the band geek stigma."

"I think you've got it covered, babe-magnet." Tiana said in a mockingly friendly way. Both girls in and out of band seemed to swoon over Jack, and he loved every second of it.

She traded him his sunglasses back for the paper. Out of the corner of her eyes, she saw Jack start to slip them back on his face. "Don't you dare."

Jack made a face and instead pushed the sunglasses up so they were sitting on top of his head. After he did that, he flicked the end of Tiana's French braid. "It's in the south hall. C'mon." He grabbed her arm and began pushing her in the right direction.

"Don't be pushy, Pushy." She told him, slipping her arm out of his grip.

"Yes, ma'am. By the way, I never heard how things were rolling on the Stella train. She being nice to you?" Jack asked as they pushed through a crowd of sophomores in the middle of the hall. "Excuse us, children!" Jack called out as they passed.

As a couple of sophomores shot glares at the two seniors, Tiana answered him. "Uh. Okay, I guess. She's still grumpy about it, but y'know. She'll have to get over it."

Jack _hmph_-ed to himself, turning to the right. "What do you think about our lovely pair of drum majors?"

Tiana grimaced at the thought of the bickering teens. "Oh God, that one day when we were still working on basics with the freshmen? I wanted to slap Pitch so bad."

"Right? I mean, calling the freshmen out on their mistakes is one thing, but calling them ignorant in front of the entire band?" Jack shook his head in disgust. "Guy has got a lot of nerve."

"You know, he wouldn't have done it if Mr. Rallon didn't make a run back to the band room to grab his whistle." Tiana pointed out. "Good thing Aster put a stop to it when he did."

As they approached Jack's locker, they noticed a couple of familiar faces. "Speak of the devil." Jack muttered as he nodded his head at the blond-haired, muscular drum major.

Next to him stood his Russian friend, Kris North. Kris was a couple inches shorter than Aster and more heavily built. He had light brown hair, blue eyes, and a laugh that was so loud it scared anyone standing within ten yards of the guy. He always wore a red letterman jacket for some professional sports team Jack could care less about and a cluster of thick rubber bracelets that were common among the trombone section.

Jack and Tiana had never really talked to Aster or Kris, even though they'd been in band with them for nearly four years now. Their band was fairly big, about one hundred people strong, for their area and knowing everyone's name was common knowledge. Knowing their personal life, however? Not as nearly as common.

So it wasn't really a surprise when they passed each other in the hall without so much as a word being uttered between them.

Once they were standing right in front of Jack's locker, Tiana began to work her 'magic'. With a few deft twists of her fingers, the locker unlocked, and Tiana pulled it open expertly.

"Okay, you're gonna have to show me how to do that during study hall." Jack said while Tiana beamed next to the empty locker.

* * *

"I am Mr. Monaghan, your Oral Communications teacher. I will tell you right now that I will not hold your hand in this class. I tell you the assignment, you do it, and I critique it. That's how it is. Clear?" The young and intimidating man at the front of the classroom looked around, seeing a few heads nod in correspondence.

"Good. Now, onto the rules of my classroom." Mr. Monaghan turned to the whiteboard, picking up a green marker.

As he scribbled down the rules, Tiana heard a pencil drop and someone snicker a few rows behind her. Out of instinct, she turned and saw Aster smack Kris on the arm, who was choking back a fit of laughter. Aster bit back a smile of his own and bent over to swipe up the pencil from the ground. When he was sitting back up, he caught Tiana's eyes.

Tiana quickly glanced away, placing her attention back at the front of the room.


	5. First Day of School (pt 2)

The bell rang, signaling the end of class. Tiana was thankful for the permission to leave. The class was only forty-five minutes long, but with it being the first day and all, no work was given. She hated having to sit around and make herself busy when she could be doing something productive.

She stood, slung her bag over her shoulder, slipped the sheet of paper with her schedule and locker information on it into her pocket, and headed towards the door.

Just as she entered the hallway, someone called out, "Hey! Hey, I like your skirt!"

Tiana's heart skipped a beat for two reasons: she was wearing a blue miniskirt over grey leggings and the voice that called out to her was Australian.

Thinking he was just trying to get a rise out of her, she continued to walk, picking up her pace a bit so she could escape.

"Hey!" the same Australian voice said, mostly breath by now. He'd jogged up to her and now walked next to her. Soon after, Kris joined him.

Tiana looked at him shyly, "Oh, hi."

"Tiana, right? I'm Aster, this is Kris." Aster state as Kris waved, a stupendous grin on his face as he did so.

"I know. We're in band together, remember? I'm the color guard captain." Tiana's tone came out as snappy, a teeny bit irritated.

Aster's face fell. "Yeah, I know. I just- I just thought a proper introduction would be nice and all."

_Oh._

Sheepishly, Tiana apologized. "I'm sorry, I thought you were trying to mess with me back there. It's not often a guy compliments a girl on her wardrobe without expecting anything in return."

"We are not all pigs." Kris said, not particularly offended. He knew some of the guys in his school could be total pricks, but he wanted Tiana to know that Aster and himself weren't like that.

Tiana smiled, realizing she should probably check her schedule to see which class she had next. As she fished around in her pocket for the sheet, she said, "What a relief."

As soon as Aster saw her pluck the slip out of her skirt, he asked, "What do you have next? I have Anatomy."

She skimmed down the sheet a bit, finding her 2nd hour class. "Pre-Cal Trig."

Just as Aster said, "Oh bummer." Kris blurted, "Wow!"

Tiana glared at Kris. The way he said it wasn't exactly complementary. "What?"

Kris shrugged. "Nothing. Is just that I've heard that is advanced class."

"Yeah, well I like math."

Kris gaped at her, wondering how in the world someone could like math. "Uh, alright then. Whatever floats boat, I guess."

Aster shoved his friend playfully. "Ignore him. Anyhow, I think this is where we say our goodbyes. We have to get to the other side of the building in four minutes. See you later." Then he and Kris turned down a small corridor to a door that led outside of campus.

"Bye!" She said, watching them go on their way to the science wing.

"Who are you saying bye to?"

Tiana spun around only to face Jack. "Aster said he liked my skirt and Kris thinks I'm crazy. Does that answer your question?"

Jack peered over Tiana's shoulder, catching a glimpse of the friendly pair. "Ah. Yes. Care to elaborate later? I've gotta get to Oral Comm."

"Do you have Mr. Monaghan?"

He glanced at his paper before replying. "Yup."

"Good luck. He seems like a toughie, so stay out of trouble." Tiana told him, turning to run off to her next class. "I gotta get to class! See you later!"

"Later!" Jack called, folding up his schedule and walking down the hall.

* * *

As soon as Tiana entered the classroom, she recognized someone.

"Hey, Sandy!" She said, grinning as she walked over to the shy mute.

Sandy looked up from a book he'd brought to school from home, his glasses a bit smudged from taking them off and putting them back on constantly. He smiled back and motioned for her to join him in a seat next to his.

She graciously accepted, sliding into the seat. Without missing a beat, she asked him, "So, are you enjoying Burgess so far?"

His golden eyes flickered with enjoyment as he nodded. After pushing his glass a bit farther up the bridge of his nose, pointed at the schedule resting on his desk.

Tiana took a closer look, noticing that he was pointing to fifth hour. "Creative writing. Oh. I've heard that class is awesome. The teacher is really laid back. Ms. St. Clair? Yeah, I had her as a freshman."

Sandy lifted his pale eyebrows and pointed at Tiana, inquiring that he was wondering why she wasn't in the class if she thought it was fun.

"Oh, I have an AP schedule. Actually I have AP Lit next hour, I think." Tiana unfolded the paper for what seemed like the millionth time that morning. "Yup, and after that I have AP World History. Then AP Chemistry. And after that is Digital Communications because I'll be a completer in that. My friend Jack might have that at the same hour, because he's going to be a completer in it too. He plays trumpet in band, by the way. And after that I take Workplace Readiness. Then it's the homestretch- Home Economics. Of course after this whole mess of day, I have band with you."

Sandy made a "not bad" face as he gave a once-over to her schedule.

A split second before the bell rang, a pale and lanky teen that was horrifically familiar slipped through the door.

"Great, we get the honor of having our own little piece of happiness and sunshine this hour. Just great." Tiana grumbled.

Pitch began to make his way to the far right of the room, where Tiana and Sandy sat, until he saw them. His face contorted into the most fowl frown before he turned on his heel and took the farthest desk on the left.

Sandy looked to Tiana, silently asking why their own drum major had avoided him.

Tiana leaned over to him, whispering, "Even though he's a total grouch that doesn't seem to have the patience for anyone other than himself, he got to be drum major. He's not a great guy at all. Total snob actually. Don't you remember that? He acted stuck up all throughout our summer practices."

Her new friend widened his eyes, and nodded his head a bit.

Pitch stared at them from across the room, figuring that it was more than likely that the two band freaks were gossiping about him. His grey eyes squinting, he tried to figure out why anybody would really enjoy band. Hours in the hot sun, playing the same thing over and over again in front of crowd that leaves to get food anyway, sitting on a bus with loud freshmen, wearing boxy uniforms, and all for what? To have fun?

As if any of that were _fun._

* * *

Kris eyed his best friend suspiciously from across the lunch table. Aster hadn't said a word, not even a greeting, all lunch.

"Why are you not talking?" Kris asked him.

Aster's eyes shot up at his friend as if he'd just noticed he were there. "What?"

Kris sighed, exasperated already with his friend's weird attitude. "You have not said a word. You only eat. What's on your mind?"

Without thinking, Aster stole a glance around the room and found Tiana where she'd been since lunch started. She was sitting with one of the more obnoxious of people in band- Jack Frost, and some new kid.

"Nothing." He mumbled. But really, he didn't exactly know. And just saying 'nothing' was a lot easier than explaining that to his loud and rambunctious friend.

"Is Tiana." Kris stated simply, not questioning it.

Aster shot a glare at Kris. "No, why would it be her? I've barely talked to her. Besides, I've got bigger things to worry about that don't involve, well, getting _involved_ with a girl." Aster pushed his tray aside, pointing at his friend accusingly. "You know that more than anyone else, ya gumby."

Kris chuckled. "Yes. I know."

Just then, a couple of juniors approached the table. "Mind if we sit here?"

It was Claude and his friend Jamie. Claude played trombone as well, and was placed under Kris's assistance when he was a freshman.

Kris grinned, slapping the empty seat to him. "Go on. Where is Caleb?"

"He's still in the lunch line with Pippa." Jamie answered, settling down next to Claude.

Caleb was Claude's twin brother and played the saxophone, so he worked with Mr. Rallon. He went to All-Region with Aster last year, and got in too. The kid was good, Aster had to admit, and one could only hope he would take Aster's place next year. Pippa, however, was a flute with her friend Cupcake. They were pretty cool and they'd known the younger boys since elementary school.

"Ah, okay." Kris answered, looking back down at his food.

Claude searched the busy cafeteria. Nudging Jamie, he pointed out, "Hey, there's Jack. You wanna talk to him after we're done?"

Jamie glared, and then looked away as if his friend hadn't even mentioned it.

"You know Jack?" Aster asked.

Now Jamie scowled even more at his friend before he faced Aster. "Yeah, isn't it obvious?"

Aster stared blankly at the younger band member.

Jamie sighed, pressing his fingers into his temples. "He's my cousin."

"Oh." The drum major had no idea that Jamie and Jack were related. But now that Jamie told him, he could definitely see a resemblance. "Are you sure he isn't your brother?" he joked.

"Yes, I'm entirely sure. Anyways, what are the plans for band today?" Jamie said, trying to switch subjects.

Aster took the hint and gladly answered him. "We're gonna try and work on the first drill mostly."

"Try not to fall off podium." Kris told him.

"Such sage advice, North, I'll try to remember that." Aster replied, gathering up all of his trash into a small pile on the table.

* * *

"Rallon's pretty cool. Definitely the best teacher I've ever had." Jack told Sandy.

"Yeah, for sure. He'll help you with whatever he can, no matter what it is. I watched him comfort a girl in my grade one year because she was upset over a boy. Instead of telling her to mope about it at home, he sat down and talked to her. He really makes the band room a home and the whole band a huge family. It's great." Tiana agreed.

Sandy listened intently, ready for any more information he could possibly get out of his two new friends. His other school was a private one, and the teachers weren't as nearly as patient and relaxed as the ones at Burgess.

"Mhm, so be ready for a total emotional mess when senior night rolls around. _Every0ne_ cries then."

"OhmyGod, I cried so hard last year. You see, my sister was in guard too but she'd already graduated the year before I started my freshman year here. She loved it, and I was pretty sad when I realized that I wouldn't get to perform with her. But the older girls took me in right away. It was a lot of fun. Then I realized that I'd be losing them soon and I just… Bawled! It was sad and happy at the same time, if that makes sense." Tiana explained.

"That reminds me, you sneaky fiend," Jack said, turning to Tiana with a look of disappointment. "You have managed to manipulate Emma into wanting trading up her glock lessons for a freaking flag. So, no more twirling the Fabric of Deception at my house, okay?"

Tiana pouted, mocking him with fake sadness. "But how else am I supposed to get your sister to join the dark s- I mean, color guard."

Jack smirked, smacking her on the shoulder lightly. He lifted a thermos cup filled with tea to his lips. "Weirdo." He said, his voice muddled by the container.

"Freak." Tiana teased. "And if you turn into a hipster, I'm leaving you."

"Labels are such pointless and hurtful things. I'll be what I want, woman."

Sandy watched the exchange, an odd smile on his face. His new friends were certainly different, but not so bad. The way they joked and teased each other was rather entertaining.

"Emma's my younger sister, if you didn't get that." Jack put the thermos cup down and screwed the lid back on. "She's thirteen and everyone except myself seems to have made an impression on her somehow. My cousin Jamie plays glock in the pit, and as soon as she saw him perform a couple of years ago she's wanted to play it. Poor kid doesn't know that the brass life is the best life. Am I right?"

Sandy readjusted his glasses and nodded. He liked his French horn much better when compared to his mellophone, but that couldn't be marched. At least they still sounded the same. Looking back down at the book on his table, he began to read again. He wanted to finish it by the end of the day.

"Okay, Frost, I'm going to go on ahead do you a favor." A snide and foreign voice snarled behind Jack and Tiana.

Tiana jumped, surprised by Pitch's sudden appearance. Jack jerked around in his seat to face the tall teen that now towered over him.

"Are you? Well, that's nice." Jack retorted, knowing that what Pitch was about to say had to be the farthest thing from it.

Pitch's jaw clenched, but a moment later he recomposed himself and tried to speak without sounding completely angry. After all, he couldn't allow someone the chance to tell Rallon that he was being rude to the students. "You need to keep your trumpets under control. Not just the freshman, either."

Jack hung his elbow off the back of the chair, an offended look on his face. "Excuse you?" He had yet to hear anything bad about his section. They were actually coming along pretty well and, as their section leader, it made Jack proud.

Pitch sighed, almost wishing he hadn't even bothered to tell Jack about his annoying group of instruments. "They never take anything seriously."

"Says who?" Jack snapped.

"Says me." Pitch replied smugly. "They're always goofing around."

"What? They only talk when we're not at attention. That's fine and Rollan knows it."

"Yes, but it wouldn't be fine if I were to tell him that you were distracting some of the other band members. Might even earn your whole section a few laps around the parking lot."

Jack's jaw dropped and Pitch knew he had successfully ticked him off.

"That's- that's bullshit!" Jack sputtered.

"Jack!" Tiana scolded, not caring if what Pitch was telling him really was B.S.

"You can't do that!" Now Jack shoved back his chair, standing up to Pitch. He was a couple of inches shorter, so he wasn't able to look him completely in the eye, but nevertheless he argued, "That's a total lie, and he'll know it. He stands there and watches us."

"But he doesn't see what I do. I'm on top of that podium and I see everything, Jack. And I'll put a stop to it if you don't." Pitch told him, glaring down at the brown-haired teen. Jabbing him in the chest rather forcefully, he hissed, "So, I suggest that you keep an eye on them."

Jack smacked Pitch's hand away from his blue hoodie, returning his scowl. "Keep your hands off of me."

Pitch's mouth curled into a rather creepy smile as he stepped away. "See you in band."

And with that, the grouchy drum major was gone.

Sandy watched as Jack huffed and grabbed his chair. He plunked down in it and buried his face in his hands as Tiana put a hand on his shoulder.

"You have _got_ to be kidding me." Jack muttered into his palms.

"It'll be fine." Tiana attempted to comfort him. "Just tell them to be a bit quieter or something."

"I shouldn't have to." Jack grumbled, lifting his face out of his hands and looking right at Sandy. "Usually the drum major isn't such a jerk, just so you know."

Sandy frowned in return. He figured- Pitch seemed to be taking advantage of his role as drum major immensely.

Tiana looked out across the cafeteria and saw Aster sitting with Kris near the entrance. "Looks like Aster is our only hope this marching season."


	6. Super Rad Uniform Time (Well, Sorta)

"Your butt looks great, North." Aster told him, sounding completely serious.

"Why thank you, friend. And must I say, hat looks good on you. All opposite and such."

Aster placed a hand over his heart, blinking his eyelashes dramatically. "Oh, you're gonna make me blush."

Kris laughed as he shrugged off the straps of the black band pants.

It was the Friday before the first game and the band room was a mess, filled with everyone hustling around at once. They were all trying on pants and tops. That and a hat for the freshmen, because they hadn't been assigned one in the previous years.

Same with Aster and Pitch, as the hats they wore were different than the rest of the band. Aster had to get used to the idea of wearing a bucket on his head altogether though; the percussionists and pit members in the band tied black bandanas on their heads instead of wearing the shakos.

The regular uniforms looked like classic marching jackets, with thick shoulder pads, fake brass buttons on the front, and gold accents. The tops themselves were blue, with the school name was stitched into the shoulders in black thread. The shakos were black and rimmed with gold as well. The drum major uniforms were the same, except completely white, even down to the pants. And instead of gold accents, they were blue. The shakos were the same as the regular ones, but white instead of black.

Oh, and there were the lovely sparkling gold capes that adorned the drum major tops as well.

"Hurry up, Aster! I wanna see you and Pitch in those uniforms!" Mr. Rallon called from his open office.

"Yes sir!" Aster replied, grabbing the white pants off of the chair. "Hey, zip me up once I get these stupid things on."

Kris nodded, leaving his own pants to hang around his ankles.

Aster hurriedly shoved the pants on over his sandals and board shorts, tugging them up so he could loop the straps over his shoulder. One zip and two buttons later, he was wearing the pants. "And now for the absolutely stunning top-cape-thing." He said as he snatched the jacket from the chair it was hanging off of.

The cape made it just a teeny bit more complicated for North to zip and hook it for Aster. He had to duck his head underneath the shimmery gold fabric and get the hook to do its job while it was snuggly covered by the top of the cape. "This thing is death trap, I tell you." Kris told him as he slid out from underneath the piece of polyester.

"You're telling me." Aster sighed as he shrugged his shoulders out, trying to get the top to situate properly. He still had the hat on and now stood in a near-complete uniform.

"Nice look for you." Kris nodded encouragingly as Aster walked over to Rallon's office.

"Thanks, mate." Aster told him, stepping inside the office to see Pitch in the same exact outfit.

Pitch stood with a blatant look of annoyance on his face, and anyone could tell that he was one of those kids that absolutely hated the uniforms. Aster didn't mind, knowing that it made the band look it's absolute best when it came down to it.

Rallon spun around in his chair to look at the two boys. "They fit okay?" he asked. Before the summer, Mr. Rallon had measured Pitch and Aster to make sure they'd fit properly.

They both nodded, and Mr. Rallon smiled. "Good. But there's something missing… Well there's a lot of things missing but-" He stood up from his desk and walked out of his office.

The boys exchanged a questioning look as to what in the world their band director was doing.

A moment later, their question was answered when Rallon came back into the office holding two golden plumes. "Let's go on ahead and try these bad boys on. Lean down so I can see what I'm doing."

The two of them did as they were told, letting Rallon slip the pesky plumes into place.

Once he was done, he put his hands on his hips and observed them. "Yeah, that's a lot better. Brings the whole picture together. Your shoes should be in next week, and don't forget to clean them when you can. Grass stains do not look good on white shoes. Understood?"

"Yes sir." They replied.

Aster had to tried to nod his head as well, but frowned when he felt the awkward weight of the plume bobbing on his head.

Rallon chuckled, seeing the obvious discomfort his drum major was feeling. "You okay, Aster?"

"Yeah, just not used to wearing an actual hat for marching." Aster admitted. The visor of the hat slightly obscured the top of his vision and the strap was tighter than what he was used to.

Pitch snickered, unbuckling his own strap and sliding the hat off. "I'm sure you'll get used to it." He told him in a friendly voice.

_Not with that again…_

"I bet." Aster curled his mouth into a reluctant smile. It hadn't even been the first game and he was already getting tired of dancing around the fact that he strongly disliked Pitch.

* * *

Tiana tried to her best to get comfortable with her new jumpsuit, but so far it wasn't happening. She'd forgotten to grab a pair of shorts and a tank top for changing into her color guard outfit without trouble, and now the darn thing was riding up e_verywhere._

"This has got to be more comfortable without pants on." She grumbled, trying to smooth out the front. The jumpsuits were layered with a feather-like material, alternating in blue-green stripes and metallic gold ones.

A freshman in color guard giggled at Tiana's comment as she tugged the jumpsuit off of her legs on the ground.

When Tiana looked at her, slightly annoyed, the girl immediately apologized. "I'm sorry, I just wasn't expecting to hear you say that." The girl was petite with red hair and mismatched eyes. Her right one was a slate blue color and her left was powder blue.

Tiana couldn't help but soften up at the girl's apology. It was rare for a freshman to own up to their little outbursts. "It's fine. I wasn't expecting to forget my shorts and now I have many regrets."

The girl smiled and once she was finally able to yank off her jumpsuit, she stood. "My name is Cara. You're Tiana, right? The captain?"

"Yup. And nice to meet you, Cara." As Tiana confirmed her identity she reached back and began to unzip her jumpsuit so she could escape the too-tight madness that was her color guard outfit.

"Do you need help?"

"Nope! Got it!" Tiana told her, smiling with pride as she folded over the top half after successfully unzipping it. "You get really good at zipping and unzipping yourself after awhile."

Cara's expression changed into a thoughtful and considerate one. "I wish I had that skill. Everyone else was busy so I just left it unzipped."

"Whoa, lady, I don't know who told you it was okay to wear skinny jeans on uniform day, but they were horribly mistaken." Jack walked up then, smirking at Tiana. He was already clad in his uniform top and pants. Then he gestured to Cara. "And who is this?"

"I'm Cara." The girl replied, grinning. Just as Jack began to tell her his name, she held up a hand. "Jack. I know. My friends won't shut up about you."

"Told you." Tiana muttered, rolling her eyes.

Jack gave her a smug look before miming out the act of popping an invisible collar. "It's the sunglasses, I'm telling you."

She shoved him away, trying to hold back a smile. "Go back to your section, already."

Jack shrugged, retreating back to where he'd come from. "See you in the parking lot."

"He's… weird?" Cara said it in a questioning way; she wasn't sure exactly what Jack was.

"Of course." Tiana said. "He's a trumpet."

* * *

Author's Note: Just wanted to point out that Cara is in fact based off of Baby Tooth. You could probably tell, but just in case you couldn't- well now you know! Don't forget to review and stuff like that :)


	7. Jump On It

The gym was bustling with teachers and students, all trying to get ready and find their friends before the pep rally began.

It was the day of the first game of the season, and a pep rally was in order.

The band sat on the visitor's side with the many freshman and sophomores in school as more people filed in.

Mr. Rallon stood with the saxophones with his own in his hands, ready to shout and play whatever he decided on. He played with the band at pep rallies and games, having always enjoyed to opportunity to play. After checking to make sure that Aster and Pitch still stood at the front, he called out. "ROLLING IN THE DEEP!"

Aster and Pitch acknowledged Rallon and responded by shouting out the pep tune.

Immediately people were pulling up their instruments and standing on top of the bleachers. The more experienced of the group beamed with excitement; they'd played 'Rolling in the Deep' in their show last year and it was a very welcomed and parodied piece amongst the band.

"ROLLING IN THE SHEEP!" one of the tubas called out, and soon the entire section was erupting with loud bah-ing noises.

"Alright, girls, let's get ready to dance!" Tiana called out as the color guard lined up in front of the band on the basketball court.

"I'll count off." Pitch offered.

"Be my guest." Aster replied. Might as well, after all, they were both the drum major.

They turned to the band, ready to begin. Aster looked to Pitch and nodded. Pitch smirked and started to count off.

"ONE! TWO! ONE, TWO, THREE, FOUR!" Pitch yelled, his voice clear and commanding.

Together, they began conducting as the piece started off with percussion. Suddenly the whole band was alive with the playing of the famous pop song. People began to swing back and forth with their instruments, really getting into it. The guard did the routine they'd worked on last year for the same occasion. And the students that were already sitting in the gym began to cheer; some even got up and danced.

It was such a great feeling to be back at another pep rally.

Soon enough, the entire gym was filled to the brim with students, all of them talking away and listening to the band as the cheer coach walked up the microphone on the home side.

She waited until the band was done playing and the laughter and applause died down from everyone else before she began speaking.

"Hello, Burgess! What a lovely day today, we have our very first football game of the season and I'm sure everyone is excited!" She gave a toothy grin as the gym erupted into cheers. "Okay, now moving on to our set of activities we have planned! If we could have the football captain and co-captain, the cheer captain and co-captain, the color guard captain and co-captain, and the drum majors please come out the gym floor and line up in that order that'd be great!"

Aster immediately shot Mr. Rallon a horrified look. Usually the activities were incredibly embarrassing and harmful to your reputation; something Aster wasn't a huge fan of. Mr. Rallon shrugged as if he had no idea what was going on, but the grin on his face said he knew exactly what was happening.

Pitch looked as equally as shocked as the band began chanting their names, trying to get them to go out on the court.

"GO ASTER! GO PITCH!" they shouted, making hand gestures as if they were pushing them themselves.

Tiana wasn't so happy about it either, and looked back to Jack in desperation. Jack smirked at her and waved her on, mouthing the words _sucks to be you_ as the other girls in guard began to nudge her forward. Stella had absolutely no problem stepping onto the court, smiling and waltzing to her spot.

"Oh God." Tiana muttered, dragging her feet forward.

Pitch appeared beside Stella, with Aster standing on the far end. A too-peppy cheerleader next to Tiana couldn't stop herself from gushing with glee as she clapped her hands, "Oh, this is gonna be great."

"And now if our cheer squad could step forward!"

The cheerleaders ran up, making a line in front of all the other leaders, waving and smiling as wide as they possibly could as they did so.

Lights flashed, and Tiana grimaced; they were taking pictures.

"Okay! We're going to play a song, and the cheerleaders are going to show you the ropes of it in the beginning! Once we give you the cue to start, you better start dancing! Whoever doesn't dance will getting a cream pie to the face at the end! And we have a lot of pie, so don't think we'll run out if you don't do it!"

"They are horribly mistaken if they think for one moment that I'm going to partake in this stupid game." Pitch growled, crossing him arms.

Soon enough, music blared from the speakers in the gym and the song "Jump on It" began playing.

Aster groaned, burying his face in his hands. "I thought I escaped having to dance in front of everyone, but I guess I was wrong."

The cheerleaders smacked their hands on their hips and began sticking them out in every direction, doing the signature dance moves. As soon as they were almost done with the chorus, the cheer coach called out, "Now it's your turn captains, co-captains, and drum majors!"

"Nooooo…." Tiana whined, frowning.

"Oh come on, _captain_." Stella told her, voice laced with arrogant malice.

The dance started over again and the cheerleaders turned around, encouraging the others to join in.

Aster rolled his eyes, swallowed his pride, and began to dance to the song. Tiana did the same, trying to dull it down a bit without looking just plain horrible. Pitch stood completely still, refusing to even try. Stella did it almost as well as the cheerleaders, appearing to not care how she looked.

The cheerleaders and football players made it a game of sorts, trying to see who could do it the most flamboyantly without pulling a muscle.

"YEAH, GO ASTER! COME ON PITCH!" the band shouted.

The color guard called out in slightly higher voices, "GO TIANA! GO STELLA!"

This went on throughout the whole song, Tiana finally smiled, albeit awkwardly- and Aster finally decided it was time he put on a show for the band since Pitch wasn't even going to bother trying.

He jumped around excitedly, even pausing to fold up the bottom of his jeans to make it look even more hilarious. By the time the song was over with, he was grinning ear to ear, face red with all the activity. He brushed his sweaty bangs out of his eyes and bent over to fix his pants.

"Well!" The cheer coach leaned back, surprised by Aster's reaction. They'd asked people in band to do activities before of course, but none had ever actually gone over the top like Aster just had. "That was… Entertaining. And, um, unexpected. Let's give a round of applause to all these great people out here, huh? Woo!"

The school had already been cheering them on, but after that the sound seemed to increase exponentially. The band began to play random notes in place of screaming out.

"But, I see we have someone who didn't dance!" And with that, the noise died down just a bit.

Pitch raised an eyebrow, arms still crossed. "I'm still not-"

At some point during the dance, a cheerleader had snagged a pie, knowing that Pitch definitely wasn't going to dance.

And now she'd managed to shove it in his face by sneaking up behind him and quickly rounding in front of him to do so.

Pitch's shoulders immediately hunched up and he turned away without a moments hesitation, indescribably angry now.

Now there was nothing but laughter echoing throughout the gym as Pitch stomped back over to the band.

Aster couldn't help but stare in shock, expecting Pitch to go right out of the exit. But instead he just walked over to the nearest trashcan before wiping his hand across his face in an attempt to get off the cream and fling it into the trashcan.

He looked ridiculous, the pie covering everything except for his eyes. It surprised Aster that Pitch hadn't yelled at the cheerleader or punched someone in the face. He was taking it pretty well.

Tiana leaned around the line and looked at Aster, laughing wholeheartedly at the scene of seeing the worse of the two drum majors getting pegged in the face with a pie. Aster saw her and immediately cracked a smile, a few shaken laughs escaping his lips.

Apparently the cheer coach had dismissed everyone shortly after embarrassing Pitch, because Stella skipped in between Aster and Tiana as she headed back to the guard.

The two of them stared at each other for a moment, knocked loose from their amused trance, before Aster turned to go. Tiana ran past him a moment later and Aster caught a whiff of her perfume- it smelled like cherries and almonds, sweet and clean all at once. Before he could stop himself, he inhaled the scent more, and then shook his head after he realized what he'd just done.

_Pull yourself together, Aster._

He pushed the thoughts of his odd reaction to Tiana to the back of his mind, now jogging back to the front of the band.


	8. First Game and Apologies

Football games were the best.

Well, besides sweating all of your dignity away in the uniforms and dealing with moving around carefully in bleachers because if someone got nacho cheese on someone else's pants it would be _such a horrible shame and how dare you?_

Which was why the first football game, with it being informal and all, was usually the most relaxed one.

"You ready for your first game as drum major?"

Aster spun around from his spot on the ground in front of the bleachers to see Tiana standing before him. He had just finished setting up the podium and was happy about not having to carry it around until the end of the game.

Aster grinned back. "Yeah. What about you? Are you ready for your first game as guard captain?"

Tiana nodded excitedly, gesturing to the line of girls standing in the front row of the bleachers. "Ready as I'll ever be."

Aster was about to say something else, when suddenly he was interrupted by a vivacious and familiar trumpet player.

"Hey, I'm heading to the concession stand. You wanna come with?" Jack offered, appearing at Tiana's side. Then he noticed that she was talking to Aster. "Oh, trying to butter up the drum major I see." With a grandly imposed walk, he strode over to Aster. "Frost- Jackson Frost. But you better call me Jack because Jackson just isn't the life I'm about." He held out his hand and Aster took it cautiously.

"Aster Springslin." Aster managed to say. He wasn't expecting Jack to introduce himself. "But you knew that already, with marching practice and all I bet."

Jack snickered, mimicking Aster's accent. "Mah-ching." He said.

"Jack, be nice." Tiana muttered, jabbing him in the side with her elbow.

"Uh, I don't get it?" Aster stated. What was so funny?

"It's nothing! It just, uh, I think there's an 'r' in there somewhere, buddy."

"Jack, shut up!" Tiana tried to pull him away and say her goodbyes for the moment but Jack wasn't letting up.

"Wait, he doesn't know how he sounds when he says 'marching'?" Jack asked, astounded.

"It sounds normal to me, mate." Aster spat. "So why don't you try steppin' off?"

Jack burst into a fit of laughter. "Oh God, you have _got_ to try listening to yourself sometime. This is great, T. Just great." He nudged Tiana, even though she looked like she wanted to disappear with the impending conflict at hand.

Aster made a face, his patience withering away more and more by the second. "What is it with you trumpets?"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Now we're gonna play the blame game with our instruments? How about you, nice guy, with your section full of big talkers? Where exactly has that gotten them? Aside from around the parking lot a few times, I mean?" Jack was no longer amused, and was now ready to battle Aster as far as being in band went.

He was right, too. Out of all the sections in band, the percussion were the most talkative and usually earned the most laps during practice. They'd already gotten quite a few during the summer and in the past two weeks of school. That was another reason why Aster had been so eager to try out for drum major.

But he wouldn't let Jack know that and instead continued to glare down at the teen.

"Jack, come on. I'm sorry, Aster, he didn't mean any of that." Tiana tried to pull Jack away again but he broke free of her grip easily.

"Don't bash my section when you're not even in it, okay? Every section has it's quirks and I'll be more than happy to point out yours if you point out mine. Don't do it and we won't have a problem, Springslin." Jack told him, tone fierce with anger.

That was the one thing that bothered Jack the most about band. Sure everyone could joke about the stereotypes amongst each section in band, but when it turned into a way to insult each other? No. That wasn't what band was about.

"Fine with me." Aster said, his voice completely monotone.

Jack turned to Tiana, looping his arm around her neck and leading her away as Tiana began to scold him for his behavior.

There was something about that one motion and the argument that just went down that made his chest burn just a bit. It was a strange feeling, and he felt as if he needed to do a multitude of things. He wanted to knock Jack's arm off of Tiana's shoulders. He wanted to run up and apologize for whatever reason he could fathom. He wanted to find Kris and rant about Jack Frost and his inevitable need to be as obnoxious as possible.

But before he could even think to try doing any of those things, Mr. Rallon called for him and told him to help out the percussion with setting up stands.

He was somewhat grateful for the distraction.

* * *

Despite having a couple of people off-step at a couple of different points and couple of newer guard members dropping their flags, the show went great.

Mr. Rallon called the band off to the sideline once they'd run off and got them off the field to talk. Mrs. Daley gathered up the guard and took them a few steps away, so she could talk to them as well.

"Okay, I saw a couple of things that need working on out there tonight, but I don't think it's something we can't fix before next week's game. That being said, I expect you all to be one-hundred-and-ten percent on Monday. You all did great tonight. Now go get some food and be back in the bleachers with two minutes on the clock for 3rd quarter." Mr. Rallon told them, pointing at the clock.

The band quickly traveled to the stands, putting their instruments down in the bleachers. Aster and Pitch were getting better and better at ignoring each other and immediately separated ways as soon as they were dismissed. Neither of them seemed to mind the avoidance of each other and weren't all that offended by it either.

Just as Jack put his trumpet down and turned to head down the stairs, he heard someone say to him, "You know, you need to apologize."

Tiana stood next to him her arms crossed and expression expectant.

Jack gave her a look. "No."

"You made fun of him."

"He attacked my section!"

"_Because_ you made fun of him!"

"So he gets the right to make fun of all fifteen of us?" Jack responded, referencing to the number of trumpets in his section. "You know how much it pisses me off when people do that."

Tiana sighed, remembering how he'd snapped at a few seniors the year before for doing just that. He'd nearly gotten himself a black eye, but she had to admit he had a point. "I know, I know. But I think if you apologized you'd prove him wrong for doing that. And once he sees that he was wrong, he'll apologize too. I can guarantee he'll be more sorry that you are."

"Oh, yeah that's for damn sure. I'm not sorry about anything." Jack grumbled, going around Tiana and making his way down the bleachers.

"Jack, seriously!" she called to him, following close behind.

Jack rolled his eyes and sighed as he got to the bottom of the stairs. "If I don't will you keep bugging me?"

"Yes. And that's saying something and you know it." Tiana was always very aware of people's limits and never really pushed for anyone to do anything if she thought it could be helped.

Jack turned around to face Tiana just as they got to the last set of stairs. He leveled a glare at her before saying. "Fine, drag me to him."

Tiana raised her eyebrows, surprised that he was actually going to say sorry.

"Well, go on. You know I'm not going to go willingly." Jack held out an arm, a smile hinting at the edges of his lips.

Tiana grinned, taking his arm and ruffling his brown hair. "Will do. And no being sarcastic about it either."

"Ugh, you take the fun out of everything." Jack whined, fixing his hair as they walked down the stairs and over to the concession stand.

As always, it was bustling with band members from both teams more than anyone else. It didn't take long to find the tall, blond Australian amongst them, Kris by his side. It looked like he was talking to the other school's drum major. They only had one, as they were a bit smaller than Burgess.

As Tiana and Jack neared, they heard the other drum major say his goodbyes, holding out a hand for Aster to shake. "It was nice meeting one of this year's drum majors for the Burgess Marching Hawk Band. See you at Region?"

Aster took his hand. "Eh, maybe. Our band director usually just has us go at our performance time and then we head back. But who knows. And it was nice meeting you too."

As soon as the other guy left to go back to his side of the field after saying bye to Kris as well, Tiana hurriedly dragged Jack over. Aster caught a glimpse of the two and crossed his arms at the sight of Jack. "Just what do _you_ want?"

Kris made a face and studied the two boys before giving Tiana a questioning look. Tiana responded with a look of _'just wait and you'll see'._

"Look, I'm sorry okay? I get all jittery and weird during the first game." Jack immediately blurted. "Well, actually I'm jittery and weird all the time but I think that's because of the obscene amount of energy drinks I ingest." He added after a brief moment of consideration.

"Sorry? Well, that's a game changer. You decide to do that yourself or did your mate over there tell you to?" Aster snapped, clearly still annoyed with Jack.

"She asked me to. I agreed. What does it matter anyways? You just got me to say sorry, and do I seem like the kind of person that does that sort of stuff all the time?" Jack asked, holding his hands up in what looked like surrender.

Kris nodded to himself once, realizing that Jack was trying to reconcile with Aster after the argument he'd been informed of earlier.

Aster stared at Jack for a few long moments, wondering if he should take his apology and do the same. It looked like it would make Tiana happy and Jack honestly didn't act like the kind of person that always owned up to what he did first.

This was an once-in-a-lifetime chance.

"Alright, fine." Aster said, uncrossing his arms and holding out his hand. "I'm sorry too."

Jack hesitated for the briefest of moments before grabbing Aster's hand in return. "Now, no more bashing my section."

"And no more making fun of my accent like that."

Jack smirked, knowing it'd be nearly impossible to do that. But if he were around Aster, it should be easier to refrain from, so he replied with a, "Deal."


	9. PARTY

On Saturday, Tiana made her way over to Jack's house with a twirling ribbon in hand. It was the first time the band had decided to use them in a few years and she wanted to get as familiar as she could with them.

So, they sat in his backyard as Jack did his homework on the patio and Tiana made loops around her head and body.

"Where'd you say Emma was again?" Tiana asked as she closely watched the ribbon curl itself multiple times over her head. Usually Jack's dad would be gone on business trips and his mother and sister would openly welcome Tiana into their home because they liked having guests.

"In town with Mom. They'll be back soon. Why, are you planning on officially converting her?"

Tiana grinned. "You know, I'm real sorry about that. She needs to stick with glock."

"You're telling me. Don't worry about it though, Mom already told her that she needs to just keeping practicing for now."

"Good, good." Tiana said almost absently. She stared up at the ribbon again. The ribbon was gold and slightly translucent. It shone and glimmered in the midday sun. Tiana couldn't help but think of how simple and pretty it looked.

Silence hung between the friendly pair for a few moments.

"I have to ask." Jack started in a seemingly mundane voice. "Why are you and Aster so buddy-buddy here lately?"

"What do you mean?"

"What I mean, is that the guy has never said a word to you until this year." Jack pointed out as his eyes flickered back to Tiana.

She stopped twirling and instead held the handle horizontally, the ribbon grasped firmly in her hand. She wasn't exactly comfortable with discussing Aster with Jack. After their little fight yesterday, it was hard to believe that Jack could be able to keep himself from making unappreciated and pretentious comments about the drum major. It was odd to feel that way whenever she and Jack had always been at ease with each other, even when they first met.

"Uh. I don't know. Out of respect or courtesy, I guess?" Tiana managed to say.

Jack nodded, pulling his hood over his head absently. "Ah, okay." But he didn't sound satisfied with the answer.

That was weird too. Jack would bug Tiana about something until the sun finally burned out and all of earth froze over if he wanted to know something. Why was he willing to let up all of a sudden?

"In other news, your birthday is in, like, a week." Jack stated, breaking up the pause that fell between them.

"Yes, this is true." Tiana agreed, trying to keep her tone guarded. She knew what was coming next and she wouldn't be the one to bring it up first. She'd actually been trying to avoid talking about her birthday ever since school started.

Jack smiled. "So, we need to get a party together."

"No."

"Oh, come on! Why? It'll be your eighteenth birthday!"

"Jack, I said no. I always say no. And so far I've gotten my way."

Jack pouted. "Please?"

"No!" Tiana shouted as she began to twirl the ribbon again

Jack frowned deeply before shoving his homework off of his lap and slamming it down on the patio. Tiana tried her best to ignore him, knowing that he was making a show for attention, but that didn't last so long when Jack stomped over to her and snatched the ribbon out of her hand.

"Jackstopit!"She immediately yelled, trying to get it back.

Jack wasn't all that tall, about 5 foot ten, but he still towered over Tiana considerably, allowing him to hold the ribbon just out of reach. "Agree to let loose and have some fun, loser!"

"Give me back my ribbon!"

In an overly dramatic voice, Jack boomed, "GIVE ME BACK MY LIIIIIFE!"

Tiana stamped her foot before stretching to grab the ribbon again. "Shut up! You have neighbors you inconsiderate wingnut!"

"Hey, I have feelings you know!" Jack turned away, making it even more difficult for Tiana to retrieve her stolen goods. "So, that makes _you_ the inconsiderate wingnut!"

Tiana huffed, getting tired of fighting with Jack. "Jack, give it back." She whined, letting her arms hang limply at her sides.

Jack faced her again, but still held the ribbon as high as he could. "Only if you agree to a party."

"Jack, I-"

"Party."

"Seriously st-"

"_Party._"

"If you don't-"

"Party!"

"OH MY- FINE! Fine! Whatever!" Tiana blurted, reaching up for the ribbon again.

Jack moved away from her, ribbon still held high. "No, no. I want a legitimate agreement, my lovely lady-friend. None of this 'whatever'-ness."

Tiana shot him a dark look before sighing. "I agree to let you, Jackson Overland Frost, throw my eighteenth birthday party. Happy?"

Jack beamed with satisfaction as he lowered to ribbon. Tiana stuck out her arm, her hand facing upward and ready for ribbon retrieval. "That's better." Jack said just before he laid the ribbon down in her hand.

Tiana jerked her hand back, holding the ribbon close to her body protectively. "You better not disappoint."

Jack's wide smile disappeared and was replaced with a more mischievous one. "You act like you don't even know me, T."

"I don't think that you even know you." Tiana retorted, going back to twirling.

Jack considered this for a moment. "You got me there. Sam, though. She seems to think she has me all figured out."

Sam was another junior that wasn't involved in band but instead liked to bother Jack about the weather and other pointless things- some sort of vague flirting technique she thought worked for some reason. She was pretty and one of the more well-known girls in school. But she was about as vapid as you could get. And pretty shallow too. More than once, Jack had heard her snap at Tiana when she thought he wasn't looking.

Tiana groaned, stopping her twirling to stare up at the sky. "Say her name again and I'll tell your mother you swore at me."

"Sorry, sorry. I'll shut up now." Jack apologized, knowing that Sam was a relatively touchy subject for Tiana.

Tiana bit her lip, trying to look more serious than amused. "About time."


	10. Taking Notice

"Okay, so today we're gonna talk about getting our soloists for this week. As usual, we're going to use our juniors for every game except for homecoming and senior night. So, I hope some of you have been practicing like I suggested over the summer because I'm holding auditions tomorrow during study hall for any juniors that would like to take a swing at it." Before he finished his last sentence, a few hands shot into the air eagerly. "Whoa, whoa, whoa, put your hands down, I'm not done yet. The solos that are available are for flute, clarinet, pit, trumpet, and trombone and they should be marked on your music, just as I told you before. And I'll have auditions every week. Only juniors, though, for now. They all deserve a shot and I'd rather go through all of them before starting on sophomores.

"Also, our first away game is this week. It's a couple of hours away so we're just going to stay after school, so don't forget to bring your uniforms to school on Friday. That includes black socks as well." Mr. Rallon cast a serious look around the room before going on. "Otherwise it's black tape and, even though we shouldn't, we know how much that hurts to take off. Understood?"

A murmur of 'yes sir's swept throughout the band room before Mr. Rallon told everyone to head outside for practice.

As Aster went to grab his podium, Jack approached him.

"Hey."

_Oh God, what does he want now? _

"Uh." Aster started, turning around to glance at Jack before continuing to walk. "Hey."

Jack bit his lip and slid his trumpet onto his wrist. Rarely did he ever get nervous or anything of the sort, but it felt like talking to Aster was a somewhat dangerous activity. He never knew if Aster was going to pull one of his little rambles about the arrogance of certain sections or provoke Jack to snap at him or perhaps be willing to have civil conversation (which had yet to be experienced).

"So, uh, listen. Tiana's birthday is on Saturday."

Aster grabbed the podium and began to carry it out of the band room, subconsciously checking to see if Jack brought his music. He did; it was clutched in the same hand that his trumpet was slid onto. "Oh, really?"

"Yeah, and I 've been begging her for years -like literally _years_- to have a party and she's finally doing it. And it's up to me to round up as many people as I can." Jack told him as they stepped out of the band room. He looked around to make sure Tiana wasn't near, and when he realized the color guard had walked out first, he went on. "I'm pretty sure she'd like for you to be there."

"Me?"

"No, the other you. Of course you, Aster." Jack told him.

"Oh." Aster was a bit surprised. Apparently he had made an impression on Tiana. One he faintly hoped to keep. "Uh, sure. I'll go. What are the details?"

Jack grinned, the first time Aster had ever seen him personally act out on joy. "Great! And it's this Saturday, as previously stated, from 6-10 in the evening. I'll give you the address once we get back in here. Bring Kris if you can, too."

"Alright, I will." Aster agreed.

Jack nodded in response, the same grin on his face, before separating to find others in his section.

So maybe civil conversation was possible after all.

"What was that about?" A familiar Russian voice questioned.

Aster turned to see Kris by his side. Slapping his friend on the shoulder he said, "We're going to a party this weekend, mate. That's what that was about."

* * *

Pitch wasn't an idiot.

In fact he'd like to think he was the farthest thing from it.

So, when he took note of all the little exchanges going on between Frost and Aster and Aster and Tiana, he had a feeling that an alliance of some sort was forming.

He could try and stop it, manipulate all of them into not speaking to each other. In fact, he could even go so far as to cause a permanent rift between Tiana and Jack or Aster and Kris. But that'd be too obvious, it would create too many different loose ends that all had the same source.

Instead, he could do the next best thing.

He eyed Stella for a few moments from his podium before deciding he had enough time to get down and speak with her. Once he made his way over to her he started what he hoped to be a productive conversation.

"Hi, you're Stella right? What'd you think of the game last Friday?" He said, trying to sound as interested as possible, even plaster one of his signature fake smiles on his face.

The normally bitter girl spun around, baton in hand and beamed with simple fact that someone had decided to speak to her nicely before going on to talk to said person.

* * *

"No, no! Saxophones watch-!" Mr. Rallon shouted hopelessly as the front saxophone managed to tumble down once again.

The one behind it managed to enthusiastically hop over their fallen band mate as Mr. Rallon blew his whistle, ending the drill.

"You okay?" Mr. Rallon shouted as he jogged over.

They were on the practice field in the parking lot, so it wasn't exactly the most forgiving surface to fall on.

The saxophone squinted his eyes before opening them wide. He pressed a hand to his left arm and nodded. "Y-yeah, I'm good. That's was just really unexpected."

Mr. Rallon frowned, extending at hand out. "Alright, come on. Let's get you back on your feet!" He looked over at the saxophone that jumped over the injured one. "Bill, I just want you to know that that was the most flamboyant act of avoidance I've ever seen in my entire teaching career."

A few laughs were heard throughout the band as Mr. Rallon helped the poor guy over to a patch of grass. "Take it easy for a few minutes." He told him as he lowered him down onto the curb.

"Okay, let's take 'Sonmi-451 Meets Chang' from the top, shall we?" Mr. Rallon called out as he made his way to the front of the band. "DON'T MOVE THIS TIME! STAND STILL AND PLAY!" He slapped the top of Aster's podium with his hand. "Go on."

Pitch and Aster called for a horns-up and then counted off.

Soon after, the band began playing, starting out with low brass and sparse beats of the bass drum, eventually growing to include rimshots and woodwinds. Then the pit started in with the marimba while the low brass increased slightly in volume, eventually sounding perfectly rocky. A cymbal cued the rest of the pit to jump in, along with higher parts in woodwind, the trumpets blaring out lower notes. The clarinets had a soli, with the snares beating in the background. All of the pit began to play a solo that was converted in a soli as well for the time being, when Rallon noticed something.

The piece ended and Mr. Rallon approached Jamie. "You're the only junior in the pit, aren't you?"

Jamie looked a bit startled. "Uh, yes sir."

Mr. Rallon smiled. "Well, you sound great. I think I'll have you play the solo this week and maybe a bit more after that."

Jamie's eyes widened. "What? Really?"

"Mhm, congrats Jamie." He looked to the rest of the pit. "Jamie's got the solo this week, so he'll be playing it for now. Okay? YOU GUYS, THAT WAS A GREAT RUN! LET'S DO IT AGAIN WITH MOVEMENT!"

Jack couldn't hear what Rallon had told Jamie, but figured it out soon enough towards the end of the piece as they closed and Jamie was the only one to play the solo this time.

After practice had ended, he found Tiana. "Jamie got a solo!"

"I know." Tiana replied, holding her flag and ribbon in her hands.

Jack looked around excitedly. "Help me find that musically talented punk."

Tiana laughed in response as Jack dragged her around in search of his cousin. Once they found him, they walked up without hesitation.

He was walking with Claude and Pippa when Jack told him, "Hey, good job on getting the solo!"

Jamie stared at him for a moment, giving Jack an odd look. "Thanks? I mean, I'm the only junior so…"

"Yeah, but Rallon could've just passed it onto a senior, you know."

Claude and Pippa cleared out, walking ahead of Jamie, Jack, and Tiana. They looked like they were extremely uncomfortable with Jack and Jamie's interaction and wanted to be as far away from it as possible.

"Yes, I know. I have to go." Jamie pushed past Jack, glock and all.

Jack watched him leave without saying goodbye. He yanked his sunglasses off of his face and looked at Tiana. In a exasperated voice he said, "You see what I mean!"

Tiana frowned. "Yeah. I'm sorry."

"Don't be." Jack grumbled, putting his sunglasses back on. "I just wish he'd be able to speak to me without acting like I'm stupid for even trying. We're family! We practically have the same face for crying out loud!"

"I know, I know. But there are other things you can worry about for the moment."

"Like your party." Jack sighed.

"Yes, like my party. Be over at my house tonight okay? We can discuss being slightly normal teenagers and make some food or toilet paper the neighbor's house or draw funny faces onto pictures of famous people, okay?"

Jack smiled just a bit. "Okay." For now, the Jamie issue would once again have to be another problem for another day.

No matter how much it bothered Jack.


	11. Away to Alabaster

"How did you two start talking anyway?" Aster asked as the bus traveled along the highway.

The band was on their way to their first away game and Aster, Kris, Tiana, Jack, and Sandy all managed to sit with or near each other. Aster and Kris sat in front of Jack and Tiana while Sandy sat to the right of them. They'd already eaten at school, having thrown a little barbeque in place of stopping at a restaurant.

Tiana and Jack shot each other an amused look before both turning back to Aster.

"You're going to laugh your ass off when you hear this." Jack said, leaning against the window. "Why don't you start this story off, T? After all, it was your doing really."

Tiana rolled her eyes and smacked the back of his head. "Shut up." She looked around at the little group in front of her and off to the side. "Okay, so we're outside marching our drill during school. It's freshman year and this whole flag thing was fairly new to me, despite having tried to practice beforehand. Mr. Rallon isn't even out there yet and I'm practicing my drill-"

"Like the try hard you are." Jack interrupted.

"Shut _up!_ Anyhow, I'm spinning and spinning and not really paying attention to what's going on around me. I get to this one part of the drill where I just swing the flag around myself twice before going on. I spin it around once without a problem, but the second time-"

"She hits me square in the face." Jack informed everyone, pointing to his nose.

Aster's jaw dropped. "What?"

"Yeah, she's been out to get me from the start."

Tiana winced at the memory. "I didn't know that I was, I don't know, that in the moment? But yeah, I whacked him in the face and he started bleeding and I started freaking out and well, it was a disaster."

"Excuse you, I was the one with a busted nose and lip." Jack reminded her.

"Hey, I was the one that had to deal with injuring a perfect stranger." Tiana retorted. "After I had my little freak out, I forced Jack into letting me take him to the nurse."

"And from there on, I knew she was the one that'd have to deal with me for the rest of our awkward teen years." Jack said, grabbing Tiana's hands dramatically as she laughed and pushed him away.

"So, you guys didn't really know anyone else?" Aster asked.

"Not really. I mean I've always been super focused on school so I was always kept to myself."

"And I've always had Jamie. We're only a year apart so we've been like brothers since the dawn of time."

"Oh yeah." Kris stated. "I did not know you two were related."

Jack simply scoffed. "You poor, mistaken soul. We're so much alike it's scary. Brown hair, brown eyes, little sisters, an odd knack for foreign food. But yeah, we're related. Anyone else pumped for our first away game this year? Of course it means we're closer to Evermont's homecoming game but life is just weird that way."

Tiana noticed the change of subjects and frowned the tiniest bit to herself as Sandy gave an enthusiastic thumbs up.

Aster smacked his forehead in dismay. "Oh my God, I didn't know it was their homecoming game. That'll be a total mess."

"You are telling me?" Kris sighed, burying his face in his hands. "They always start it too. Have you noticed?"

"Yeah, they're a bunch of stuck up snobs. No matter, we'll try and have some fun." Tiana said.

They continued to converse all the way into Alabaster, where the game was taking place, getting lost in all the details of each other's past band experiences.

* * *

Aster buckled the strap on his hat before grabbing the gold cape in his left hand. He frowned at it, wishing his uniform didn't have to be so… _showy_. Pitch walked by, putting his hat on his head and smirked at Aster. "Try not to get that thing caught on anything will you? I bet these uniform tops are quite expensive."

Aster ignored him for once, deciding to be too caught up in getting his plume.

Once he found Rallon and the band director placed the plume in his hat, he grumbled, "I don't know how all the woodwinds and brass do this." He had to push back his bangs so they wouldn't be pressed to his head while he was wearing the hat. It felt uncomfortable to say the least.

"What, the hat? It's all part of the experience. A great experience, I might add." Rallon told him. "Now go over there and help Pitch round up the band. Make sure they're in the right places."

"Okay." Aster replied, turning on his heel. His plume caught the wind and he had to resist the urge to yank the damn thing off of his head. _Experience could be a little better if we weren't always wearing these stupid things._

He noticed a few stray flutes hanging around the trombone section as he walked over to the small strip of grass behind the visitors' bleachers. "Alright you guys, you know what to do. Get back in your section."

The girls jerked around to see Aster before thankfully complying.

"Don't be such tough guy, Aster!" Kris called out to him.

He could help but smile and yell back, "Only if you admit that your trombone isn't like your own kid!"

Kris instinctively grabbed his mouthpiece, something all brass members did when they felt threatened. "Crazy!"

Aster shook his head and made his way to the front of the band, standing next to Pitch. "You think they're good to go?"

"Let's see." Pitch said, before blowing his whistle twice and right into his fellow drum major's ear.

For a moment, Aster couldn't believe what Pitch had done. They were supposed to call the band to attention _together-_ no matter what. Who the hell did he think he was?

Aster bit back a swear and instead acted as if what Pitch did was okay before commanding the band to warm up on their own.

* * *

"Presenting the Burgess High School Band for your halftime entertainment!"

A few claps came from the audience as they half paid attention to the hard-working band before them.

"Led by drum majors Aster Springslin and Pitchiner Black and color guard captain Tiana Helija along with co-captain Stella Blaker. This year the band will be playing various pieces from the 2012 film _Cloud Atlas_. They will start the show with 'Prelude: The Atlas March' with soloists Cupanna Collistere on flute and Shawn Dowey on clarinet, then the band will play 'Sonmi-451 Meets Chang' with soloist Jamie Bennett in the pit, and the band will close with the piece 'Cloud Atlas Finale' with soloists Jim Marks on trumpet and Claude Hinsey on trombone." The announcer paused for a moment as Pitch and Aster turned around to face the bleachers. "Drum majors, is your band ready?"

The two of them nodded at each other before Aster counted them off for the salute. It went off without a single problem and the two turned back around, placing their whistles in the mouths. The cued each other again before whistling the horns-up. The practically spat out their whistles before Aster proceeded to count them off, Pitch conducting with him as he did so.

Suddenly, it occurred to Aster that this was the second game and the last-first away game he'd ever go to.

Even as his heart twinged the slightest in pain, he kept conducting. The show had to go on.

* * *

The band went home, complaining of the final score; Burgess had lost by five points to Alabaster High. It was a disappointment compared to their twenty point win the week before.

"Win some, lose some." Jack shrugged as he stepped on the bus.

"I still think that ref wasn't being fair." Aster huffed.

Tiana looked at the two sympathetically. "Hey, you guys. Tomorrow is my party and I'm sure it'll be a bit more fun than watching our team lose in sweaty uniforms."

"Speaking of which," Jack said, standing up with his back facing Tiana. "Unzip me?"

"You haven't learned how to do that yourself yet?" Tiana teased as she stood to unzip her friend.

"WOO! TAKE IT OFF!" Someone shouted from the back. It sounded like one of the other senior guys.

Jack took the jacket from Tiana as soon as she was done and whipped it around his head twice, eliciting a few more shouts of encouragement. "Oh, you like that?" He shouted to them.

"YOU KNOW I DO!"

Jack burst into a fit of laughter as he sat down in the bus seat. "This is why I love band." He sighed.

"Such a shame that the other band bus is missing out." Tiana joked.

"Such a shame." Jack repeated.

"So, Tiana, who else is going to be there tomorrow?" Kris asked, once everyone else had settled down and gotten out of their uniform tops.

"Um, all of you guys right?" Tiana leaned around to peek at Sandy, who was once again reading a book. "Sandy, you're going tomorrow right?"

Sandy looked up and smiled. Nodding his head, he confirmed his attendance.

"Alright, and I think Cara is going as well. You invited Jamie and his friends right? Like Pippa and Cupcake and Claude and Caleb?" she questioned Jack.

"I did, but I don't know if they'll show up like they said they would." Jack replied, looking out the window.

Someone shuffled onto the bus just then. It was unexpected, considering people had stopped filing in a few minutes ago. It was also unexpected because of the two people that dragged themselves onto the bus.

Pitch and Stella were talking to each other as they tried to find their seat, successfully doing so towards the middle of the bus.

"OhmyGod." Tiana breathed, as everyone in their group stared at them. As soon as they sat down, Tiana hissed to no one in particular, "They're _collaborating_?"

Jack didn't look all that impressed with Pitch's newfound friendship. "Oh, please. You're making it sound like they're about to drop the hottest hit this year. You can't tell me you didn't see that coming."

"I sure as hell never thought that would happen. I thought Pitch preferred to be a moody loner." Aster spoke up, keeping his eyes on the two.

"The two most vile and horrendous people in our school were bound to collide one way or another. C'mon you guys seriously couldn't picture that happening?" Jack asked, his face twisted into disbelief.

Aster squinted his eyes before turning around in his seat and running a hand through his floppy blond hair. He hoped that maybe Stella would distract Pitch from being such an ass all the time.

"Don't think I ever took time to." Kris responded as their bus driver climbed on next and started the engine.

* * *

Author's Note: Hello! I know this chapter is a bit all over the place, but I wanted to get in certain parts of what was going on without having to upload three different chapters. Also, Cupanna is Cupcake. I just made up some name that sounded like Cupcake and made it her real name for this fanfic. And a lot of the soloists' names that you don't recognize are people I just made up out of the blue to compensate for the remaining solos! Well, that's it! Thanks for the reviews and favorites and follows and fantastic stuff like that!


	12. Aware of Your Surroundings

Of course, Jamie couldn't go (what a surprise). Cupcake and Pippa didn't show up either, knowing that if Caleb and Claude went, they'd want to spend their time with Aster and Kris. They didn't really know Tiana and Jack all that well, only having heard of the two through Jamie.

That being said, Claude, Caleb, Aster, Kris, Cara, and Jack were the only ones that Tiana had at her little party. She didn't mind not having a huge one. After all, this was only really being done because Jack held her ribbon hostage.

Tiana's mother and father agreed to leave the house for a bit, but only after they celebrated with her beforehand. They would be back around 8, or an hour before the party was supposed to end.

They all stood in the backyard, surrounding an untouched pool. Tiana had told her guests they could bring swimsuits if they were up for the challenge, but with the decreasing temperature, nobody wanted to take a chance.

"Well this is a nice little get together." Jack commented from his chair at the wire table. They were all sitting in it, conversing when suddenly there was a lack of things to talk about, thus creating an awkward silence.

"Hey, it's nice enough for me." Tiana told him. "I'm just glad I'm not going to be stuck around a bunch of people I don't really know."

"Oh, I know. My friends thought I was a bit crazy when I decided to come here. Y'know only, like, two of them are in band. And I'm the only one in color guard so that just outs me even more." Cara explained. She was of course the youngest out of all of them, being the only freshman.

"Well, you're welcome to party hard with us anytime you want." Jack smiled, scooting his chair a bit closer.

About a month ago, it would've just been him and Tiana sitting around, watching movies. Now they'd gained a whole group. Especially with Aster, Kris, and Sandy. Still, it didn't feel like they could call each other friends quite yet, although the possibility of that happening was still pretty great. Aster wasn't a complete jerkwad, which pleasantly surprised Jack.

Cara smiled shyly. "Thanks."

"In fact, why aren't any of us partying hard right now? It's Tiana's 18th birthday party and we're sitting around talking like a bunch of old geezers." Jack stood, and placed his cup on the table. He walked over to the radio that sat on the steps of back porch. It was already letting some tunes seep into the air, but once Jack got a hold of it, it was blaring out Katy Perry.

"Come on you guys!" Jack said, throwing his hands in the air. He pointed at Aster rather accusingly. "Don't be so on the down-low, Kangaroo, I know you can dance!"

"Kangaroo?" Aster demanded, leaping up from his chair. "Is that another jab at my accent, mate?"

"No." Jack replied, running over to yank up Tiana from her chair as well. "It's a jab at your hip-hoppity dance style. Or would you rather be called a rabbit?" Jack raised an eyebrow, almost daring Aster to choose between the two.

As if he actually would.

"Let's go, friend! Time to dance!" Kris jumped up and slapped his friend on the shoulder. "No time to waste! Night is young!" Before Cara could do anything, Kris grabbed her hand, pulling her into a stand. "Let's go!" he repeated, grinning from ear to ear.

Claude and Caleb looked at each other, wondering if they should join them. Together, they shrugged and got up to join their friends.

By the end of the song, everyone was on their feet, having a great time.

Icona Pop's 'I Love It' came on next and Jack all but pulled a muscle when he jumped into the air, yelling out, "THIS IS MY SONG!"

"Calm down, Jack! You'll pass out before the party is even close to over!" Tiana laughed, watching her friend go crazy.

Jack stopped suddenly and cast wide eyes at his best friend. "My lady, it seems as if you do not know how to truly enjoy yourself."

"Excuse you!"

He gave her a knowing look before stepping over to her. "I see you over there, doing the little awkward jive you're so good at."

"Hey, I'm way more coordinated than you!" Tiana said, putting her shoulders on the nearing Jack. He had that mischievous look in his eyes, something that made her want Jack to be as far away as possible.

"Oh yeah? Well, what if I do this?" And then Jack had somehow managed to scoop Tiana up in his arms.

Immediately she thrashed around and hit him, demanding to be let down. "Jackson!" She screeched. "Put me down! Someone help!"

Without missing a beat, Aster came to her rescue and took her from Jack. Jack simply crossed his arms and remarked, "Well, now. Chivalry isn't dead, is it, Kangaroo?"

Aster shot him an annoyed look before setting the startled Tiana on the ground. "Thanks." Was she could think to say.

She really hadn't expected anyone to actually help her. So _that_ was what having other friends felt like.

"Not a problem." Aster replied.

As Tiana and Aster shared their little moment of thanks, Jack looked to Cara. "Guess I'll just have to shake it up on my own." He said before breaking out into the Charlie Brown.

Cara doubled over in laughter as he danced his way backwards.

Jack couldn't help but crack a wide smile as he begin to really get into the dance. Cara snorted, she was laughing so hard.

Until she noticed that he was about to fall into the pool.

"Jack, wait-!" She called out. But it was too late.

The second Jack realized his foot was no longer skimming the ground, his entire face fell. He jerked both of his arms forward, an empty wish for someone to grab them and pull him back onto solid ground, before he stumbled backwards and into the deep end of the inactive pool.

At the sound of the splash, Tiana jerked around to see Jack struggling in the water.

"Oh my God, JACK!" Tiana practically screamed.

"What is it?" Aster immediately asked, shocked by how frantic Tiana seemed as she rushed over.

"He can't swim!" She managed to gasp, pointing at Jack.

It only took Aster a split second to run and jump into the pool after muttering to himself, "Oh bloody hell."

He went underneath the chilly water and as soon as he broke the surface, he swam over to Jack. He quickly looped his arms underneath Jack's once he made it over. The poor kid was so scared he tried to hit Aster as he struggled for breath. "Whoa, mate! Calm down!" Aster told him as he hauled him over to the side. "Help him up!"

Tiana and Kris both ran forward, grabbing Jack's out stretched hands. The pulled him over the side rather roughly, but Jack didn't seem to care at all. "Come on, let's get you inside." Tiana told him as they headed inside the house.

"Is he okay?" Kris asked, glancing back and forth between Aster and Sandy.

Aster looked at Cara, Caleb, and Claude, who all stared at the three guys in a frightened awe.

"Let's go make sure." Aster replied, walking towards the back door.

Once they made it inside the house, Aster called out for Tiana.

"In here!" Tiana shouted from down the hall.

The three of them walked down the hall, going into the only open door to see Tiana crouching next to Jack in the bathtub, who was shaking in a towel that was draped over his shoulders. His face was buried in Tiana's shoulder while she wrapped her arms around him.

"Is he okay?" Aster questioned. He'd never seen someone so distraught before and he'd never expect Jack to be the one to show him how badly someone could freak out.

"He'll be fine in awhile. Listen, do you think you could get everyone to leave. I'm kinda of occupied right now." Tiana mustered a smile, even though her face was ridden with concern.

Just as Aster was about to agree, Jack spoke into Tiana's shirt miserably, "I'm sorry."

"It's fine, it's fine. Not much for parties, anyways. You know that." Tiana told him, carefully running her hand through his matted and wet hair.

"I'll get right on that." Aster replied. "Come on, you two." He gestured at Kris and Sandy.

Once it was just Tiana and Jack again, Jack leaned away from Tiana. "I'm okay." He said simply, trying to pull himself from the bathtub, even though his hands were still shaking horribly.

"Jack. _Jack._ Get back here." Tiana said, gently pulling him back down next to her. "You need a moment to process."

"No I don't." Jack told her, but nevertheless he leaned onto her again.

She'd only seen Jack cry once before, and that was when he told her why he was so scared of water in the first place. It was heartbreaking, really. He seemed like the last person on earth to cry. It was a totally different side to himself compared to the one he was showcasing in the backyard.

"I just- I don't even know what happened. It's like one second I was dancing and then the next, my clumsy ass stumbled into the pool." Jack told her. "I swear I've got to get good at this whole 'aware of your surroundings' thing."

"Sh. I know." Tiana said.

"I'm sorry."

"If you don't stop apologizing, I won't ever talk to you again." She said in a light, joking manner.

Jack sniffed. "Okay, sor- shit. I can't stop."

Tiana smiled faintly, facing Jack to push his wet bangs out of his eyes. It was odd to see his hair no longer spiked and instead flat against his head. "Your mom is going to freak once she finds out."

"I know." Jack said, his voice still thin with the recent trauma.

"Why don't you stay over for a bit? I can try and get you as warm and dry as possible. And I'd offer clothes but I don't think you'd be exactly comfortable with that." Tiana offered.

Jack nodded weakly. "Yeah, just some towels or something would be fine. And okay. I'll stay."

* * *

Eventually Jack had stopped shaking enough to get out of the bathtub without any trouble. His eyes looked tired by then and a frown was etched onto his mouth as Tiana wrapped three blankets, one after the other, around him.

Aster, Kris, and Sandy almost left after they managed to clear out the startled guests until Jack stopped them. "Hey, where are you going?"

Aster looked like a deer in the headlights as he jerked to a stop in front of the door. "Uh."

Tiana stopped to look back and forth between the two boys.

"We're just gonna watch movies. You can stay if it's okay, right?" Jack asked, turning to Tiana for permission.

Tiana stared at him for a moment, caught off-guard by his sudden want for social interaction. "Um. Yeah. Sure! That sounds fine."

And so that's how all five of them ended up huddled up on the couch, watching some movie about a troubled group of teens in the eighties.

Jack sat on the very edge of the couch next to Tiana, Aster sat on the other side of Tiana, Kris sat on the other side of Aster, and Sandy sat on the other end of the couch. It was a pretty big couch, so nobody was practically sitting in the lap of their neighbor, which everyone was thankful for.

About halfway through the movie and a somewhat uncomfortable silence that fell between them once the film started, Jack said in a little bit of a stronger voice, "You know, I can explain why I reacted the way I did. What happened that made me be like that, I mean."


	13. An Explanation with a Side of Plans

Kris leaned forward at looked at Jack. Sternly he said, "You do not have to. Is fine."

Jack shook his head and Tiana watched as he sat up a bit straighter. "Nah, I want to." He smiled at his best friend solemnly before going on. "I was pretty young, like seven I think. Emma, my sister, was little, too. My family went to a lake during the summer and while they were busy trying to get Emma to tell them why she was so upset –she was crying and wailing at the time, I remember that too- I somehow managed to get onto a nearby pier and jump off without a second thought. I didn't know how to swim, but I'd heard stories of my grandfather just throwing my dad in the water when he was younger before so I figured that was how it worked. It wasn't and I don't really remember much from there other than just water being _everywhere_ and forgetting how to breathe, you know?" He swallowed, pressing a hand to his forehand thoughtfully. "And then I woke up in the hospital later on that afternoon."

"Oh, wow." Aster blinked, realizing that Jack had nearly drowned as a child. "That-that sounds horrible."

"It was. But it doesn't really bother me unless I'm around a lot of water or, uh, in it. Otherwise I'm fine." Jack said, trying his best to sound nonchalant. To be honest, he was much more scared than he was letting on. He had evoked nightmares before just by mentioning what had happened to him. He couldn't even imagine what would be waiting for him went he went to sleep that night after actually being completely submerged in water.

Kris furrowed his eyebrows, confused by what Jack had said. "Wait, then how are you okay with pool?"

Jack shrugged. "I just kinda got used to it. A lot of the time I'm over here, it's nice enough to stay outside. And even when it's not, we still just like to hang out outside."

Tiana looked at Kris, explaining, "Yeah, my family has always been outdoorsy, so my mother always preferred that Jack and I be outside rather than inside."

"Outdoorsy?" Aster questioned. Somehow, Tiana didn't exactly strike him as the type of girl to spend her days outside willingly. He wasn't exactly sure why, although using the word _dainty_ to describe her wouldn't be all that inaccurate.

Tiana caught the hint of doubt in his tone and rolled her eyes. She knew how she looked to other people, with her choppy hair and short stature. She liked to think she was clean cut as well, having worn ironed shirts and jeans without holes in them her entire life. Subconsciously, she reminded herself to ask her mother about dying her hair now that she was a legal adult; it had been something she'd wanted to do for the past couple of years. "Yup. We like to do hikes and stuff like that. But mostly during the summer because everyone is usually too busy any other time."

"Oh, cool." Kris replied, nodding and turning his attention back to the television.

Just then, one of the main characters hissed a swear louder than expected. Everyone jumped, not expecting the loud interruption at all.

"Jeez, you'd think that they'd tone down the swearing a bit." Jack said, shrinking in his shroud of blankets.

"You're one to talk." Aster couldn't help but mutter.

Jack glared at him, quickly snatching up a throw pillow nearby and chunking it skillfully at the Australian's head. "At least I'm not doing it in a movie for everyone and my mother to hear."

Aster blocked the pillow with his forearm, careful to avoid hitting Tiana, and grabbed it before it tumbled to the floor. Jack didn't sound completely serious, and Aster wasn't in the mood to argue so for the sake of everyone else, he didn't throw it at Jack's head with every ounce of strength he possessed. Instead he reached back and whacked him on the back of the head, allowing the pillow to fall into Jack's lap. "That'd make more sense if you did."

"What do you mean?"

"At least you'd get paid."

"Can we please not do this now? Some of us are actually trying to watch the movie." Tiana pointed out.

Jack pulled the blankets tighter around himself before grumbling. "It isn't even that good anyways."

"Hey, this is a classic!"

"Oh, like that other movie that our show is wonderfully crafted after? I fell asleep within the first thirty minutes of that one, T." Jack admitted.

Tiana's jaw dropped as she smacked Jack's arm with the back of her hand. "You told me you watched it!"

Jack frowned, suddenly remembering that he had in fact lied to her. "Uh, you see, there's a good reason for that-"

"That's it! You're watching it! I'm making you and you can stop me!" Tiana threw her hands up as she uncurled herself from the couch, letting in colder air between Aster and Jack.

Jack let out a huff of air, freeing his hand from the blankets to press it to his face. "Tiana, not now. Please. I can't afford to fry my brain any further at the moment."

Tiana pouted and looked at the group of guys sitting on her couch. "Have any of you seen _Cloud Atlas_?"

All four of them glanced at each other, wondering if any of them really had.

The small blonde groaned, turning around to shut off the DVD player. "You guys are missing out. It's great." She shook her head as she took the DVD out, snapping it in its case once she'd located it. An idea came to her as she placed the case amongst many others on a shelf next to her television. "We could all watch it sometime!"

"Oh God, no, T…" Jack complained.

"Give it a chance, Jack! All of you! It's a really good movie, I promise."

Kris pondered the option for a moment. "I do not see why not."

Aster sighed, standing up from the couch. "Uh, sure."

Sandy brought his knees up to his chin, smiling and nodding at the idea.

"Great!" Tiana beamed with excitement before she glanced at the clock and realized her parents would be home in half an hour. "My parents'll be home soon. The party was supposed to last until nine, but we've gotta get some stuff sorted out when they get here so…" Tiana looked at Jack sheepishly, knowing that explaining the pool incident to both of their parents wasn't going to be so smooth.

"No problem. Let's head out, Kris." As Kris stood to join in his friend in leaving, Aster glanced at Sandy. "Do you need a ride too, mate? Wouldn't be a problem to take you home."

Sandy looked surprised at the proposal, but got up and nodded somewhat absently. He'd never ridden home with anyone but his parents. It wasn't like they wouldn't be okay with him doing it, it just wasn't something that had ever happened.

So Kris, Aster, and Sandy all headed home, leaving a damp and slightly flustered Jack alone with Tiana.

"How do you think your mom is going to handle this?" Tiana asked as she made tea in the kitchen. Tea always calmed down her mother, and she was sure to flip when she found out what had transpired during the party.

Jack winced. "I have no idea. But we'll find out won't we?" He laughed nervously, imagining how to tell his mother about it when he went home.

He was just trying to have fun, not revisit some dark childhood memory.


	14. The Evermont Fracas (pt1)

Two weeks flew by, all too fast for the clingy seniors. No wonder people insisted that the older you get, the more you need to enjoy what's happening in your life at the moment. Marching season was almost halfway done, with the approaching competition and it felt like everything was slipping away.

And the Evermont game. What a joy that would be, especially with the confusion Aster was feeling about a multitude of things, mostly concerning Tiana and only slightly concerning her best friend.

The week after Evermont's homecoming, was homecoming for Burgess as well, so the band had to practice some slow and repetitive song over and over again as the homecoming court waltzed around on the field like they had all the time in the world. Oh, and that only added to the ever amounting academic stress that Tiana had faced when she thought of the homecoming dance itself. Should she go with Jack like she'd always done? Or should she just stay at home? Should she buy a dress either just in case? Or save her money on something else?

Needless to say, the next two weeks would be the farthest thing from relaxed.

Everyone was tense as they filed onto the bus for Evermont. Some of the freshmen were pretty scared, knowing that Evermont and Burgess had a fiery hatred for each other. They had good reason too; Evermont always went after the freshman more than anyone, knowing that they were going to be the upperclassmen one day. It was their way of "teaching them a lesson". Meanwhile, Burgess attacked the upperclassmen for attacking the younger members of band. The fights could get pretty bad, too, sometimes even physical.

That's why Rallon stood before the first band bus and made the same speech he made every year. "You roughhouse with those kids, and I'll kick you out of band- no questions asked. You should know better, and I won't waste my time trying to lecture you on something you already know. Those kids go after you and you better take it with a grain of salt, no matter how hard it may seem. Everyone understand?"

As soon as the entire bus agreed, Mr. Rallon walked off to go to the second bus to make the same speech.

Sandy shot Kris, who sat with him this time, a questioning look.

"People have fought before. Happened last year, if I am correct?" Kris looked at Aster from across the aisle.

Aster nodded in agreement. "Yup. A senior, too. Mr. Rallon saw the whole thing though and he didn't get kicked out."

Sandy raised his eyebrows in shock before furrowing them and pointing at the bus exit. After how stern Rallon had sounded, it seemed that trying to reasoning with him would be near impossible.

"You see, Rallon would really rather not kick anyone out of band. So if he could make a good case for anyone in his band as to why something happened, he would. That's what happened with that guy." Jack explained. "Some Evermont kid started cussing at him, y'know, calling him names and stuff like that. Our guy goes over to get him to stop, Evermont shoves him a couple of times, Burgess walks away like Rallon tells us to, and Evermont goes after him and hits him in the face. A fight ensues and Rallon saw the whole thing from start to finish."

"And the sad thing is that Rallon and Evermont's band director knew each other in college, too. They don't have a problem with each other, but the rivalry between our schools is just horrible." Tiana added, knowing that if she were in Rallon's shoes, she'd be a lot less understanding of the situation.

"Which is why we usually do our best to step off. I don't think Evermont's band director ever told them about that, now that you mention it. Otherwise, I bet they'd be a lot nicer." Jack replied, getting on his knees in the seat so he could see everyone better.

"That's true." Tiana agreed as she got out her phone and pulled up her music.

Jack groaned, noticed his friend's distraction-making. "Hey. Hey. T. No."

"What?" Tiana demanded, getting out her earbuds.

"This isn't a time for blocking out the world, man. This is a time to get riled up! We're going up against Evermont! The tyrants of the football trade! The morons of the marching band business!" Jack went on, enthusiastically raising his arms above his head. "And I have had way too much coffee this afternoon to be still and quiet on a 45 minute bus ride!"

"We're stopping off to eat. You do know that, right?" Aster prodded. He wasn't sure if he liked this "riled up" Jack. He looked a bit dangerous, something that wasn't all that great to be on a night like this.

"Still a 45 minute bus ride! Plus another 45 minutes in a crowded fast food place! Come on, Tiana!"

"And listen to you ramble aimlessly on the way there? No thanks, Bucko."

Jack recoiled at the nickname. "Bucko? What is this? A western drama?" Before Tiana could retort, Jack turned around in his seat and said, "No, this is the greatest marching band ever, my friend." Then he proceeded to cup his hands around his mouth and shout, "Hey band! You guys ready to go get 'em?"

The majority of the back of the bus immediately erupted in cheers.

"How about we sing a song of encouragement then?" Jack shouted, a smirk on his face as freshman immediately began to request certain songs.

"Oh God, Jack, no." Tiana whined, burying her face in her hands. "Not this."

"Anything but this, mate." Aster sighed, sliding back into his seat.

Kris got on his knees in his seat too, wanting to join in on whatever Jack was planning. Jack saw Kris get up too and grinned at him. "What do you say? I think 'Rolling in the Deep' would be a good start."

"Definitely." Kris agreed, clutching the back of his seat in his hands.

"You know, these kids are a handful! With their name-calling and pushin' around and whatever they're gonna have up their sleeve tonight! So what do we do? We go out there and play our hearts out in that show! In fact, we're gonna do it so well that they're gonna be 'Rolling in the Deep'!" Jack said before belting out the famous first lines of the popular song.

Soon the entire bus was joining in, replacing whatever parts they did last year with funnier versions.

"Jack, I hate you." Tiana said as she put in her earbuds, ignoring Jack's earlier request in hopes he'd found a distraction in the horrendously loud caroling the band bus was now taking part in.

"Love you too, T!" Jack shouted in between singing.

* * *

"Give me the damn chicken!"

"Will you shut up? There are small children in this restaurant that have yet to be introduced to such vulgar words."

"I'll shut up when you _give me the damn chicken._"

Tiana rolled her eyes and leaned across the table to give Jack his chicken nugget back. "You are so wired for sound. How the hell can you manage to drink more coffee?"

"Language." Jack reminded her, sticking out his tongue before eating the chicken nugget.

"She has a point. Why are you always so hyped up anyway?" Aster asked, eyeing the cup of coffee in front of Jack with the tiniest bit of worry.

"So glad you asked, Kangaroo." Aster shot Jack a dark look at that one. Ignoring it, he went on, "I barely sleep. Too much stuff to do. On average, I get about four hours of sleep a night. Over the weekend, I sleep until noon. Meanwhile, I use caffeine to keep myself alive in the most dire of situations. Not exactly the best thing to do, but hey it works for me."

"Crashes must be horrible."

"Oh, yeah, that's for sure. I'll most likely be knocked out the entire way back." Jack agreed.

Tiana looked out the window of the restaurant, noticing the sunset that was currently in progress. It was getting colder now, and days were getting shorter. She frowned. Now she was going to start feeling rushed and like being a member of the guard was a burden. Those jumpsuits weren't exactly toasty warm or anything of the like.

Jack loved winter, though, and always made sure to drag Tiana to the park down their road somehow every time it snowed. He always welcomed the cold and never swapped out his blue hoodie for an actual coat. However, he'd also gotten sick multiple times over the years from sitting out in it too long and too often.

Tiana smiled to herself when she saw Jack turn around and look out the window as well. She could tell he was happy for the change of seasons just by looking at him.

"So, what do you guys think of Mr. Monaghan's assignment?" Aster asked, switching subjects over to something he could actually converse with Tiana on, rather than just listen and make comments about.

Tiana looked at Aster blankly, trying to recall what Mr. Monaghan had assigned. "Mr. Monaghan? Oh. Oh! I hate it!" She finally recounted.

"Are you guys talking about the whole sports thing?" Jack intervened. "Because I think it sucks."

Aster couldn't help but feel annoyed. Jack was taking Oral Com too? Was there anything Aster could talk about without the slightly cantankerous trumpet player butting in?

"Yes." Aster answered, trying to keep from sounding how he felt. "The sports thing." He turned to Tiana. "He knows that there are people in that class that aren't involved in sports in any way whatsoever and he still chose that topic. I could care less about sports, to be frank."

"Ah, sports not so bad." Kris said.

"They are if you don't know anything about them and have to present an extensive argument on them, North." Aster snapped.

Kris threw his hands up in the air, sensing his friend's annoyance. "You could learn. Hey, tell you what! We work together on speech."

"Together? Wouldn't Monaghan be able to tell? I'm not going to detention and getting a zero over a stupid speech. I'd rather just fail the damn thing."

"Fine, you do research by yourself."

"Alright, fine."

Jack, Sandy, and Tiana all nervously glanced at Kris and Aster. They went back to their conversation once Kris began eating and Aster turned his attention back to Tiana.

"Uh, so, yeah. Monaghan? Real, uh, I don't know, jerk-ish?" Jack tried, moving the conversation further along.

Aster thought of how easily Kris backed off, reminded of how easy his friend kept his temper. Regardless, Aster knew regret would creep in and make him feel horrible for snapping at his friend. Readjusting the straps on his uniform, he spoke up. "Yeah. Totally jerk-ish."


	15. The Evermont Fracas (pt2)

Pitch might not have enjoyed band just like everyone else, but he surely enjoyed bothering Evermont students. He watched carefully as he set up his podium next to Aster, trying to see if any were trying to make their way over and take advantage of the band's distraction to getting everything done in the stands.

Stella chattered restlessly to him as he did this, leaning against the bottom rail in front of the bleachers. Pitch silently willed something to happen in the guard so that Stella would have to go and check on it.

This little alliance had to pay off somehow right?

He jumped slightly when he felt his cape being messed with and spun around quickly to see Stella straightening it out.

She grinned at his shocked face, letting a laugh slip through her blood-red lips. "I was just fixing your uniform. Sorry."

He forced a smile and threw an arm around her shoulder, trying to be as friendly as he possibly could. "Don't be." He glanced around, noticing that Aster was already done and setting his eyes on Tiana and Jack, who were already talking to Kris and Sandy.

_They sure are moving things along, aren't they? We'll see about that…_

"I think we should wish a bit of luck to Tiana and Aster, don't you? After all, tonight could end pretty badly if Evermont sets foot over here."

Stella's gleeful expression faltered for half a second before she recomposed herself and said as lightly as she could, "Okay."

They strode over to the group of friends while Pitch's arm remained slung around Stella, stunning everyone once again as they took in their friendship. "Hello." Pitch said, grinning.

"Oh. Hi." Aster said, turning around to face him.

The rest of the group followed and Pitch couldn't help but be amused by the astonished look at Jack's face.

"Ready to take on Evermont?" Pitch asked, glancing at the others.

The short golden-haired teen of the group simply stared at Pitch when he caught his eye. It wasn't a blank stare either, something more defiant. It made Pitch want to know more about the silent mellophone player and see what exactly his issue was. Maybe he'd be an easy target for one of his schemes if there was something more meaningful behind his reason for being mute.

"I don't think we're ever ready for that." Jack deadpanned. Pitch just showed up and he was already getting tired of him. Bitterly, he thought of Pitch's threat on the first day.

Pitch set his grey eyes on Jack coldly. His voice was the exact opposite of his glare, however, when he said, "Oh, come on, Frost. It's our last year!" At the last sentence, he made a show of tossing his hands in the air. "Why don't you lighten up a little?"

"Me?" Jack demanded, aghast with Pitch's accusation. "Excuse you, _Pitchiner_, but I think I am probably the last person on the entire freaking field that needs to be told to lighten up."

"Jack, calm down." Tiana said quietly, reaching out and placing a hand on his shoulder.

"What, do you keep the boy on a leash or something?" Stella suddenly snapped.

_Shut up or you'll ruin it!_

"Maybe we should go…" Pitch began to pull Stella away, but she was just getting started.

"No, I always see her stopping him or nagging him or something else like that." Stella looked at Jack. "Don't you ever get tired of being pushed around?"

Jack's face twisted into one of shock. "No! Oh my God- not that she's even nagging me to begin with! And since when is my own friendship any of your business? Tiana is my friend and I am plenty aware that I'm a handful, so I can see why she needs to!"

"Is she the one that told you that you're a handful?" Stella insinuated.

Now Jack and Tiana stated in unison, "No!"

"It's called looking out for someone, Stella." Tiana retorted, sliding her hand off of Jack's shoulder.

"Tiana, maybe we should go to the bleachers." Aster insisted, pointing up.

Sandy nodded and motioned upwards, eager to escape the conflict altogether.

Tiana and Stella glared at each other for a moment before Tiana turned to the stairs. "Yeah, maybe we should."

Everyone else nervously walked over to the stairs behind Tiana, not bothering to say goodbye to Pitch and Stella.

Jack remained on the ground until Kris called after him. He turned to go, but not before muttering the words. "There's a reason why you're co-captain."

Stella heard what he said and her eyes flew wide with anger. "What did you say, Frost?" she demanded, attempting to go after him.

"Whoa, whoa. Let's just make it through tonight." Pitch said, grabbing her shoulders. He gently pulled her away as the group made their way to the top of the bleachers, where the brass sat.

"I swear, if he ever says that again-"

"I know, I know. Some people just don't care if they hurt you." Pitch tried to sympathize with her.

To his surprise, Stella let out burst of laughter, completely void of humor. "That's funny." She said, turning away. "No one has ever said that to me before."

Pitch realized that he might've just uncovered something crucial to his plan. He had to act on it, and dig deeper into what Stella was saying. "What-what do you mean?" He did his best to sound clueless as he grabbed her wrist.

She jerked around to face him and squinted her eyes. "You seriously don't know that everyone thinks I'm a bitch?"

"Why, I've never heard anything of the sort. Although, if I had to say anything on your character, you're very hardworking and have a nice personality."

Stella smiled shyly then, her teeth looking stark white in the fading sunset.

Really, she was a pretty girl with her dark hair, bright hazel eyes, and delicate features. But Pitch couldn't focus solely on that. Not now, at least.

"You think so?" she asked, hoping he'd indulge her further in compliments.

"Of course. And I think Frost is dead wrong, too. You deserve to be captain. Mrs. Daley must be a fool to think otherwise."

Her face fell at Pitch's statement. "It's… It's not fair. Did you know that? I'm not captain just because I haven't went to this stupid school since I was freshman. That's the only reason why Tiana is captain."

"That is ridiculously unfair." Pitch concurred. "If only someone could show them just how wrong she is…"

Stella scrunched her face up. "How?"

Pitch allowed himself the luxury of showing his devious smirk in front of Stella. He had her right where he wanted her. Things were going to work out _perfectly_.

* * *

Evermont had been quiet, much to Burgess's surprise.

The first half of the game went smoothly, free of insults and dirty looks.

At least until Burgess went up to march first, being the visitor and all.

The entire line of Evermont band members stared with every bit of displeasure and frustration they could muster. And when Burgess had finished marching, Evermont remained still, refusing to applaud for their opponent's band.

They took the field, walking past Burgess band members, some even daring to bump shoulders forcefully as they did.

It didn't stop after halftime either.

All throughout 3rd quarter, Evermont kids were starting to show their ugly side more and more because of the score.

Burgess had 21 points, and Evermont had a mere 7.

That's why Aster was expecting the derogatory comment directed at him as he brought a soda back over to the visitor's side.

"Hey, Blondie! Nice cape you got there!"

Aster spun around, seeing Evermont's own snotty drum major looking satisfied next to his own little ring of band monkeys.

He huffed, trying to ignore them, as he walked around various people to get back to the bleachers.

"Don't be so quick to leave Blondie! We're just trying to have a little fun!" Suddenly the drum major was at his side, clapping him on the shoulder in faux excitement. "Try and loosen up a little, would you?"

Aster shrugged off the drum major harshly, managing to say in an even voice, "Leave me alone."

The drum major scoffed and stopped following Aster. "You're all the same aren't you? Stuck up little jerks, huh? You just mad that one of guys whooped your guy's ass last year?"

"What did you say, mate?" Aster spat, looking at the drum major and his friends with a fiery glare. "Your guy started it, and we ended it. That's all there is to it. Now leave. Me. Alone."

The drum major stood there for a moment, watching Aster go. His friends urged him to do something else to push the drum major further, but he didn't listen. Instead, he had his eyes on a certain Burgess glock player, who was carrying his instrument back up the bleachers.

Within a few seconds, they had walked up to Jamie and the drum major skillfully grabbed one of the mallets from Jamie's hand.

Jamie turned and faced the drum major. The second he saw who held the mallet, his entire face flushed. "Uh, that's, um, mine."

"Funny, I thought only girls played glock." The drum major hissed as he pretended to look at the mallet with interest.

Jamie fought back the amount of anger that was now building up inside him. He couldn't let these guys know that they were getting to him. "Please give that back."

"So polite." The drum major said, casting a glare at Jamie. "But I think I won't give this back. You can play with one mallet, right?" The drum major and his little posse laughed as they turned around to go back to Evermont.

Before Jamie could say anything in protest, Jack had appeared in front of the group of Evemont bullies, arms crossed in seriousness. "Y'know, he asked nicely. I suggest you hand over the mallet, young man."

"Young man?" the drum major asked, dumb founded.

"Yes, you seem to be a man, although your actions are childish. And you look young. Therefore, you are a young man. Would you like for me to educate you on the importance of etiquette as well? You seem pretty confused about that, too." Jack said, smirking.

"Hey, listen here smartass-" Evermont jabbed Jack's chest. "You don't want to mess with me."

_Why do people always feel the need to poke at me?_

"Hey, listen here dumbass-" Jack jabbed him back before pointing up at Jamie, who watched in shock. "You don't want to mess with my cousin. You don't want to mess with any of us. So I suggest you give me the mallet back and take yourself and your groupies back over to your side of the field."

"Do you seriously think I'm afraid of you?" the drum major said, his mouth curling up into a smile.

Suddenly, someone from behind the drum major laid a hand on his shoulder. "No, but you might be afraid of me." A voice laced with a Russian accent pointed out.

The drum major and his friends looked over their shoulders to see none other than the bulky and tall Kris North himself.

"You see, now why not give boy back his mallet?" Kris said, a knowing look in his eyes as he gestured to Jamie.

The drum major looked back and forth between Jamie and Kris, trying to decide his next move.

Jack knew that the teen was caught in a dangerous situation.

Finally, the drum major handed over the mallet to Kris and angrily stated, "Don't you people know how to fight your own fights? Damn." And with that, the drum major shook his shoulders and took off with his friends in tow.

Jack laughed as Kris handed Jamie the mallet after they'd gone. "Sure showed them, Kris."

Kris smiled as Jamie shot his cousin an angry look. "You didn't have to do that, Jack."

"That jerk was going to run off with your mallet."

"I could've handled it!"

"Oh, yeah. It looked like you were handling it real well." Jack was stunned to hear Jamie argue with him after he'd just helped him out. "A thank you would be nice, Jamie."

"I didn't ask for your help! Just-just go away, Jack! Please!" Jamie yelled, pointing away from the bleachers.

Jack was taken aback. Now Jamie was purposely pushing him away. He wanted to confront him as to why, but he was too hurt to bother. Instead he complied, walking away to find Tiana.

Kris quickly caught up with him. "He is just angry about the Evermont people."

"No, it's something more than that." Jack told him. "By the way, I'd appreciate it if you didn't tell Tiana about any of this. She'll feel the need to keep asking question after question and I don't know how to answer anything she'll want to know."

Kris looked at him sadly, but agreed. "Alright, if you say so."


	16. The Evermont Fracas (pt3)

To everyone's relief, Burgess left Evermont in victory.

Everyone was talking with excitement as they got on the bus, despite Rallon's constant reminder to be quiet because people were usually exhausted by the end of games.

Nobody wanted to sleep though. They just wanted to talk about winning against their biggest rival.

"Wonder how that drum major feels now." Kris said as he took his seat with Sandy.

"Probably not as great as we do." Jack replied triumphantly. They'd told Tiana about their little incident, leaving out the part where Jamie had told Jack to go away. He still didn't know why Jamie had be so reluctant to have anything to do with him, but decided to try and talk to him about it over the weekend or some other time soon.

"Whoa, wait. You bumped into their drum major, too?" Aster asked, sliding into his seat.

"Yeah, he took Jamie's mallet. We took care of it though." Jack smiled at Kris, who returned the favor, letting out a loud laugh.

"He told us about it 3rd quarter. You would've heard it too if you stuck around." Tiana said. "Where were you anyway?"

"I wanted to talk to my section." Aster replied. "I haven't really talked to them since I got drum major and I wanted to make sure no one was messing with them."

It was so weird to go over there and see new faces in the same section that he was in for most of his high school life. He had to introduce himself to a handful of new percussionists and it reminded him to work on playing his snare over the weekend. That All-Region music wasn't going to play itself (sadly).

"Anyone bother you, Sandy?" Kris asked his seat mate.

Sandy shook his head and pointed at Tiana.

"He stayed with me the whole time and I made sure to stay near Mr. Rallon the entire time. Cara was with us, too. She said to tell you hi, Aster." Tiana explained, reaching up to take her hair out of it's high bun as Aster nodded. "You know, I love guard. But I hate all the primping that comes with it."

Aster looked at her face, painted with dark eyeshadow and eyeliner, her lips covered in bright red lipstick. He was so tempted to tell her that she looked nice either way and with that temptation came the stunning thought of _do I really like her?_

His thoughts were interrupted when Rallon stepped onto the bus to call out names and make sure everyone had gotten on.

This time, he wasn't so thankful for the distraction.

His thoughts needed to be sorted out, and they needed to be sorted out soon.

* * *

On the way home, Jack had fallen asleep as promised. He was leaned up against Tiana, snoozing away as she listened to various tracks on her phone.

Sandy had his face buried in yet another novel, reading by the light of his phone as Kris stared out the window. He'd never been able to sleep on road trips and riding on the band bus was no exception.

Aster was listening to music as well, and had his back to the window. He stared out the one on the other side, watching buildings and lights pass by. His thoughts were more jumbled than he could ever imagine or even think to expect. It was mixture of all sorts of things in Aster's head and it was beginning to wear him out.

-He was drum major and there was a competition next week. It was an invitational, thankfully, but it still needed to be treated like Region if they were going to do well two weeks later at the real thing.

-Pitch was hanging around Stella- a lot. Why were they even talking? Shouldn't they hate the entire populace on their own? Or was it one of those "even villains hate to be lonely" sort of thing?

-Tiana Helija. She was captain and best friends with Jack. She… She was pretty- no, more than that. She was beautiful, with her long dark blonde hair that look so light and soft at the same time because of her choppy haircut. Her eyes were almond shaped and violet, something that was extremely unusual and dazzling all at once. And her lips… What were her lips?

Aster found himself becoming frustrated when he couldn't recall what her lips looked like. He'd spent so much time looking at her eyes, trying to avoid looking at her lips in the past couple of weeks because he was afraid it might give way to whatever he was feeling if she caught him.

Wait a second.

_Oh my God, I do like her. How could I be so stupid? Of course I like her!_

Aster sighed, the sound loud in his ears because of his headphones. He shut his eyes and tilted his head up at the ceiling. Everything made sense now, and he couldn't help but feel like he had been ignorant to ignore his feelings. Why couldn't he own up to it before? He never really liked anyone before and-

Oh. That was why. He'd never liked anyone before. Not like this.

_I like Tiana. I like Tiana. I am an idiot and I like Tiana._

That was the only thing he could think and it left his brain buzzing.

* * *

Meanwhile, Jack woke up and sleepily opened his eyes.

As he pulled himself away from her shoulder, Tiana shifted, now aware that Jack was awake. The bus was still humming with other members of the band talking quietly. It wasn't as nearly as loud as when they'd first started on their trip back home, but it still wasn't completely quiet.

"Hey there, Sleepy-Head." Tiana said after she'd pulled her left earbud out of her ear.

Jack wiped at his eyes. In a groggy voice he said, "How long was I asleep?"

"Ah, about three weeks." She shoved him lightly as he smiled. Showing him her phone she answered his question for real. "About 30 minutes."

Jack blinked his eyes, readjusting them to the brightness of the phone screen. "Really? I thought you'd have to wake me up once we got home."

Tiana shrugged. "We only have 15 minutes left."

"True." Jack agreed, looking away from the phone and at Tiana with a bit of concern on his face.

She put down the phone and questioned Jack's odd look. "Something wrong?"

"No, it's just… I don't know. You ever get that feeling that things are going to change?" Jack asked.

Tiana knew that Jack must be bothered if he was willingly to talk about something serious on a band bus instead of in the privacy of either of their homes.

"What do you mean, Jack?"

There was a moment then- just one moment- between one action and the next. Jack just stared at her intensely for moment, his wide brown eyes unyielding. Then his hand was on the back of her neck, extremely warm and comforting. Tiana sucked in a sharp breath, thinking that if he was going to hug her, he sure was going about it in a strange way.

It wasn't until he started to lean in that she realized he wasn't going to hug her.

And it wasn't until he pressed his lips to hers that she realized he was kissing her.

The kiss was unexpected to say the least.

But Jack's lips were warm and his manner was patient about it. He wasn't trying to stick his tongue down her throat, which was something that Tiana would be thankful for later on. But as it happened, his lips still pressed tight against hers, it occurred to her that it wasn't right. They were best friends for crying out loud! And Tiana never imagined kissing him or feeling more than a friendly love towards him.

And she still didn't.

She pulled away, staring right at Jack's closed eyes. Once they flickered open, every shade of brown you could imagine, she looked away with a feeling a guilt welling up inside her. "Jack, I'm…"

Jack watched her look down at her lap where her hands were folded. He didn't know what to say either. He hadn't meant to kiss Tiana. It just sort of… happened. She was so close and Jack let the slightest twinge of loneliness get to him.

And he ended up kissing his best friend.

As he searched for something to say, something to make up for his horrible mistake, Tiana spoke up, "I don't… like you. Like that, I mean."

"I don't either." Jack blurted, momentarily stunned by his outburst afterwards.

Tiana furrowed her eyebrows and looked back at Jack. "What?"

Jack pressed a hand to his forehead. "I just- I don't know why-why I did that. You were just right there and I felt kind of lonely. I'm sorry, Tiana."

"So, you don't… like me?" Tiana prompted. She didn't want things to be weird between them. She wouldn't allow it, no matter what that meant in the long run. But she also didn't want to lose her one and only best friend.

"No, actually. I don't. I mean, you mean the world to me, T. Just not like that." Jack explained, looking back at Tiana solemnly. "I'm sorry." He repeated.

Tiana immediately relaxed at the sound of her nickname. "Stop apologizing. It's okay, Jack. I understand. I just… Can't believe you actually did that." She let a nervous laugh slip through her recently-kissed lips.

Jack leaned against the window and let his hand fall from his forehead to his lap. "I can't believe I did it either."

Tiana couldn't help but smile at the sight of Jack being flustered. "Well, if we wanted, we could write a book about our friendship and I bet it'd sell a lot of copies."

Jack _hmph_-ed to himself, smirking a bit. "We could call it 'The Fairy and The Frost'."

"The Fairy? What do you mean?"

He gestured to her jumpsuit. "This might sound weird but you all look kinda mystical. Like fairies."

Tiana regarded him with a curious look. "Oh."

"And I don't know what it is about Cara, but she reminds me of you." He said, speaking more to himself than Tiana.

"Cara? It could be because she's in guard too. And she's a little shy." Tiana was thankful for the change of subject and was more than willingly to talk about Cara in place of what had just happened.

Jack pondered Tiana's statement for a moment before shrugging. "Yeah. That could be it." Without another word, he turned to the window.

As he squinted his eyes at scene outside his window, a silence fell between them.

Tiana stared at Jack for moment, concerned for her friend. Something was obviously off about him. He was never this quiet. The memory of her twirling her flag in his backyard suddenly seemed very distant as she recalled how withdrawn he was about the subject of Aster.

_What is going on here lately?_

As she slowly put her earbuds back in her ear, she hoped everything would straighten out.

She didn't like this new uneasy feeling in the pit of her stomach.

* * *

Author's Note: You guys, this story is now over 100 pages long. 100. Pages. I can't believe it. Anyhow, thanks for the follows and faves and reviews and stuff like that once again! Also:

AmaraRae: You just wait! Stuff is gonna go down at some point and you never know what'll happen! :)


	17. What They Wish Could be an Ordinary Day

"I've already restarted my computer twice, Mr. Oscelero. I dunno what's up with this stupid thing." Jack grumbled as he gestured at the computer screen.

Mr. Oscelero was the teacher for Digital Communications and Computer Applications. He was an older man, about ten years ahead of Rallon, and was short with graying hair and an impending bald spot. He peered at Jack over his glasses before shuffling behind the young teen. "Let's see here. You said you've restarted it?"

"Twice." Jack nodded. "And Photoshop still won't load."

Mr. Oscelero frowned and told Jack to get up from his desk.

Tiana sat next to him and watched as Jack stood, huffing and stuffing his hands into his hoodie pocket.

"Did you download anything on here, Jack?"

"Nope."

"Hmmm…" Mr. Oscelero's frown deepened at the computer screen. "Maybe it tried to update and it won't let you open it until it's done. I'm not sure. Just jump on a different computer and see what happens, okay?" He told Jack as he shut down the computer and got up from Jack's former seat.

Jack nodded as he sat in the chair on the other side of Tiana. He took his seat without a word, only glancing at Tiana as he sat, smiling in the slightest when she caught his eye. She returned the smile and then looked back at her screen.

It was only Monday, so Tiana hoped that things would stop being so awkward by the time homecoming rolled around. All weekend, Jack and Tiana avoided each other. Not a single call or text was shared between the two until Sunday evening when Jack texted to ask if Tiana was still giving him a ride on Monday, which of course she was. It was the first time he'd ever asked since Tiana got her license, too. And when Jack got in, they greeted each other with a simple, "Hey." But they didn't say anything else until they got to school and found Aster, Kris, and Sandy in the cafeteria and the boys asked how their weekend was.

It royally _sucked_ to not be comfortable talking with your best friend, especially after thinking all was well.

Mr. Oscelero watched Jack start up the computer while he said, "Go on ahead and open up your project. I want to see if it works."

Jack's mouth immediately opened and he started to say, "But. Uh. Oh-kay." Jack bit his lip as he typed in his username and password.

Tiana wondered to herself why Jack seemed so hesitant about opening his project. All the Digital Com students were working on creating a movie poster of some movie they'd imagined on their own. What could be so bad about Jack's?

Once Jack opened up his project, Mr. Oscelero leaned back, blinking his eye multiple times. Jack bit the inside of his cheek and shut his eyes, waiting for Mr. Oscelero's reaction.

"Uh, Jack?"

"Yes?"

"That's a picture…"

"Mhm."

"Of everyone is the classroom."

"Yup."

Mr. Oscelero leaned forward, squinting his eyes at the screen. "With their eyebrows photoshopped off of their face."

"Uh, yeah." Jack ran a hand through his messy brown hair, laughing nervously as some of the other students in the classroom looked over at Mr. Oscelero and Jack. A few snickers erupted from a handful of student when they heard Mr. Oscelero and Jack felt his cheeks burn with embarrassment.

_I'm about to get chewed out so bad. Why did I even do this for the assignment anyways?_

Mr. Oscelero tilted his head, still looking at the picture. Then he leaned away, an amused look on his face. "Huh. Okay, well, Photoshop opened without a problem. I'll take a look at that other computer after school. Carry on, Jack." Mr. Oscelero smiled, shaking his head as he walked away.

Jack didn't breathe a sigh of relief until Mr. Oscelero was back at his own desk in the front of the classroom.

Tiana had tried-really she did- not to laugh, but it was contagious. As the rest of the room broke out into a collective chuckle, she couldn't help but join them.

_Why get rid of the eyebrows? Really, Jack?_

Jack heard her laughing and shot a quick look at her. She was still looking at her computer screen, hand covering her mouth as she tried to stifle her tiny outburst.

Before he could even stop himself, he mumbled, "Shut up, punk."

The friendly comment took Tiana by surprise and she smiled. "It's just-" Tiana searched for the right word, blurting it out when only one came into mind. "_Eyebrows._"

Jack couldn't help but smile too as he directed his attention back to his computer screen. Seeing his own project made him laugh now, just thinking of how much of a ridiculous idea it had been in the first place. Ridiculous but fun.

"Tiana? Can you run these posters over to the art room really quick?" Mr. Oscelero called out, wielding a stack of colorful posters into the air.

Tiana sniffed, trying to rid herself of giggling. "Uh, yes. Yes sir." She stood, smoothing out the back of her hair where it was pulled into a ponytail and brushing her bangs out of her eyes. As she took the stack from Mr. Oscelero, she asked curiously, "What are these for?"

"Oh, Mrs. Rey is hosting a showcase for all the art students. She asked me if I could print off the students' design on a bunch of poster board for it." Mr. Oscelero explained.

Tiana looked at the glossy finish of the posters. It was a really cool design, mostly red with streaks of yellow and blue. A few black designs swirled out of the top right corner, leading to a heading that read off the details of the showcase in more black ink. "This looks really nice."

"It does, doesn't it? I think her classes get better and better every year." Mr. Oscelero agreed, pointing to the posters. "Now, get over there. I'm sure she's about to have a fit over them. Been bugging me about them for the past week or so."

Tiana nodded before turning around and heading out of the room for the art room.

* * *

Knocking on the door, Tiana peered into the room through the small window in the door.

Mrs. Rey glanced up from her desk, grinning when she saw Tiana. She put up her hand and waved it, welcoming Tiana to step inside the room.

Tiana obliged, opening the door and sliding in quietly. The smell of acrylic paint filled her nostrils as a radio hummed on low near Mrs. Rey's desk. It was brighter than some of the other classrooms, as Mrs. Rey kept all of her windows in her room free of curtains, allowing natural sunlight to spill into the room. The campus looked really nice from there, with the art room being on the second floor and it being a spectacularly sunny day.

"What have you got there?" Mrs. Rey asked, standing up. She went over to Tiana, her flowy shirt trailing out behind her.

Mrs. Rey was a tall, willowy woman with dark hair parted down the middle. She wore absolutely no makeup and was always clad in either woodsy or pastel colors and a pair of beaded sandals. From what she heard, Mrs. Rey was pretty laid back but she did in fact have a bad side. Only a handful of students ever dared to push her to the point of showing it, though. Otherwise she was an okay teacher.

"Mr. Oscelero said these are the posters for the showcase." Tiana explained, holding them out so that Mrs. Rey could take a good look at them.

A certain art student's head snapped up at the familiar voice. Aster sat towards the back of the art room, painting a landscape, his fingertips streaked with every color he used in it. Well he _was_ painting a landscape; now he was staring up in confusion at Tiana, who he'd never seen in the art room before.

Mrs. Rey held out her hand and took the posters from Tiana and the younger girl noticed then that every finger on Mrs. Rey's hands were covered with at least one ring.

The teacher let out a gasp of delight as she looked over the poster. She grazed her finger down the front, tracing a simplistic flower in black. "Oh, these look great. I wasn't sure if the scanner would pick up the yellows properly, but look at that! Perfect!"

As Mrs. Rey admired the posters, Tiana looked around the room. She scanned the room, going over the various works of art Mrs. Rey had gained over the years from her students. There were collages, portraits, little slabs of clay that had things engraved on them, and each one showed a different style of art. Eventually she found herself staring right at Aster, who stared back mutely with bright green eyes as he crouched on a black stool over a desk.

After an instant, Aster gave her a small wave with a paint spattered hand. "Hey." He mouthed.

He looked a bit out of place amongst the rest of the students, with how athletic he looked. Other than that, he looked right at home, clad in what he always wore (a t-shirt, short-sleeved button-down left unbuttoned, board shorts, and worn leather flip-flops).

"Hey." She mouthed back before Mrs. Rey spoke to her again.

"Tell Mr. Oscelero I said thank you and that these are excellent!" she told Tiana excitedly.

And with that, Tiana was heading back out the door after she'd told Mrs. Rey she would tell Mr. Oscelero of her praise. But just before she shut the door, she looked back at Aster once more.

He was still looking at her, now beaming as he watched her steal a glimpse back at him.

Tiana's stomach lit up with a fluttery feeling before she shut the door and headed back to class.

She tried to ignore it all the way back and even once she was back at her computer next to Jack, but it remained and practically demanded to be given attention.

_Can't everything just… Oh my God, I don't even know. Just be normal? I mean I know it's senior year and things that I'm not used to are going to come up, but can't I just handle things one at a time? Why am I so bewildered right now? Aster just _looked_ at me! That's it! And Jack? Don't even get me started! I just don't under-_

"Tiana?"

"Hm? Yes?" Tiana snapped out of her daze. Turning at the voice that called her name, she found Mr. Oscelero standing over her.

"Well?"

"Well what?" Tiana asked blankly.

"Well, what did Mrs. Rey think?" Mr. Oscelero asked expectantly.

Tiana's hand smacked against her forehead as she realized that he'd probably asked her that since she first stepped through the door. She'd been ignoring him since she got back!

"Oh, I'm sorry! Yeah, she liked them. Really enjoyed them." Tiana looked back at her computer, exhaling into her hand which she'd slid down her face and let it come to rest on her chin. "I'm sorry." She repeated.

Mr. Oscelero chuckled, heading back over to his desk. "It's fine, Tiana. Now work on your project."

Jack turned to her, knowing something was up. Awkwardness be damned. Tiana was his friend and she seemed to be stressing out majorly.

"You okay?" he asked quietly.

"Huh? Uh, yeah. Yeah, I'm fine, Jack." Tiana reassured him, the corners of her mouth pulling up into a weak expression of content.

Jack frowned. She was lying. He could tell. She never lied to him. She always just told him that she'd explain later.

Even so, he wouldn't bother her about it. He could make her angry if he did that and that was the last thing he wanted to right now. So instead, he accepted the poor lie and said, "Okay."


	18. Senior Feels

"Fun fact time." Jack said as he sat down at the table. "This is going to be our last homecoming game ever."

"That is not a fun fact." Aster grumbled, glaring at Jack.

Jack nearly told Aster that it was his idea that he and Tiana sit with them during lunch and that if he wasn't ready to hear such things then he should've reconsidered inviting them. But, seeing as to how easy it was lately to step on someone's toes about even the most trivial things, he decided not to. Instead he shrugged, saying, "It's true."

"Well, at least we only have one invitational left. That's something I can be happy about." Tiana pointed out, sitting down next to Jack.

"Definitely." Kris agreed.

Jack groaned, laying his head down on the table. He poked at his thermos distractedly before mumbling. "Why does invitational suck so bad? Why do competitions suck so bad? Why does everything suck so bad?"

"I don't know. Why does playing at graduation suck so b-" Aster caught himself before going on, realizing his mistake.

Sandy joined them just as Kris, Tiana, and Jack all shot the drum major horrified looks.

Sandy looked back and forth between the stunned band members, having not the slightest clue why everyone was so distraught.

"Holy crap, Kangaroo." Jack said, stunned. "We're not even done with marching season yet and you want to bring up graduation? Which, by the way we will _not_ be playing at because we are seniors and we'll be busy actually graduating!"

"Oh, God. The last thing I want to think about right now is graduation!" Tiana's face was a pure expression of exhaustion and frustration

"Hey, I'm sorry! I didn't mean to- I just- I forgot! I forgot… That we were seniors." Aster's voice faded towards the end of the sentence. He found himself staring down at the table, realizing that this time next year, he would be in college. "Oh my God, we're seniors."

Jack whipped a napkin at Aster, "Shut up over there! Nobody has time to join in on your little epiphany."

Kris coughed, not subtle at all. "Because we're seniors."

Jack slammed his hand down on the table and everyone started with a jolt. He pointed at Kris in a matter-of-factly way. "Stop it."

"Cannot resist. We've waited long time to get here."

Tiana winced, reminded of her sister. She remembered the night she'd come home from senior night. She looked horrible, to be honest. Her makeup was streaking down her cheeks and her mouth was twisted into a sad frown. She talked to their mom for a bit before asking not to be bothered and going up to her room. At the time, Tiana didn't understand why her sister was so upset. She was a senior! Pretty soon she would graduate and do whatever she wanted! Shouldn't she be celebrating?

And then Tiana joined color guard the next year and everything suddenly made sense.

The past three graduations had gradually been getting worse and worse to deal with. Each year she went, and at first it was just because Jack was going with the band and they had a couple of common acquaintances. Sophomore year was much different. Tiana had to watch a handful of color guard girls leave that had helped her since the beginning of summer practice. Junior year was the real kicker though. The senior color guard girls kept telling Tiana to work hard and never give up on trying so that she could be captain. They helped her be what she was this year, and when they left Tiana shed much more than a few tears.

She could only imagine what her own graduation would be like.

"I'm going to be a total and complete wreck this year." Tiana said, staring blankly at the table.

"We all are." Aster agreed, resting his face in his right hand thoughtfully.

Jack let out a little _ha_ before saying, "As emotionally compromised as I'll be, I've promised myself I wouldn't cry."

Tiana rolled her eyes, "Oh, please. You'll cry like a baby on senior night. Everyone does."

"I don't know, Tiana." Kris started. "I may not cry either."

Jack pointed at Kris once again, but this time in a much more friendly manner. "You see!"

"Granted, I will be sad. That I can assure you. But cry? Most likely not. I plan on visiting next year, no matter what." Kris went on, explaining himself.

"Exactly! You see, this isn't the end! I mean we won't be the ones out there anymore, but I'm pretty sure we can still have fun at the games, talk to the underclassmen, chat with Rallon, you know!" Jack stated, his whole face lighting up with glee.

"Speaking of which, who do you think we'll see tomorrow?" Aster questioned, glancing around the table.

Sandy simply shrugged, not knowing who the seniors were last year.

Tiana spoke up, "Some of the color guard girls from last year are making their way over. So I'll get to see them."

"Same with some brass people. Although that's a little sketchy in itself." Jack made a face, looking at Kris who did the same in response.

"What do you mean 'sketchy'?" Tiana asked them.

"Well, they are having a bit of trouble getting here. They live farther away." Kris replied.

"About three states over to be more specific." Jack answered, looking down at the table.

"Hey, I'm sure they'll make it. Once a band geek, always a band geek and they wouldn't want to miss a homecoming at their hometown." Aster encouraged them.

Sandy grinned and tapped the table.

Everyone looked at their silent friend, who pointed outside the cafeteria window, where the football field was and gave a thumbs up.

"You excited?" Jack asked, smiling himself.

Sandy nodded and motioned playing his instrument.

"Yeah, we're gonna rock tomorrow." Jack replied, glancing at his other friends. "No doubt about it."

* * *

"So now you know how I feel."

Stella looked up at Pitch, messing with the empty soda can in her hands. Her expression was one of disbelief and what she said next showed exactly that. "You hate band? But, why are you in it?"

Pitch clenched his jaw. It was a rather personal reason, but if he wanted to relate to Stella, he'd have to spill. He sighed, clamping his hands together and leaning forward. "It wasn't exactly my choice. My father was in band, my grandfather was in band, and now I am too. It's more of a tradition. They all played the clarinet too and before I knew it, I was being shoved into band with a clarinet as well. Granted I had fun at first, but…" His voice trailed off and he wasn't sure if he should go on.

Stella narrowed her eyes and leaned in as well, hazel eyes widening with concern. "Pitch?"

Pitch had been on autopilot since the beginning of the summer, only giving thought to what he should do, not why. But now that he was being asked about it, it brought up the reason why.

Well, there were a multitude of reasons why.

"It's just… I…" Pitch stopped himself, frustrated. He'd never been so caught up in something to think point of where he couldn't even speak evenly. He took a deep breath and recomposed himself, straightening up and leveling a confident smile at Stella. "It's just something very personal. Something very close to home. I wish I could go on and tell you, but-"

"Don't worry about it. I'm sure it's a good reason, whatever it is." Stella cut him off, looking at him sympathetically

Pitch's mouth twitched; he didn't like pity.

Not one bit.

"I'm fine and yes, I assure you I have a very good reason for disliking band so much." Pitch snapped.

Stella's mouth opened and then shut. She looked away, curling her fingers over her mouth in shock.

Pitch knew he probably shouldn't have gone off on Stella, but he couldn't help it.

Pity was worthless to him and something he just wouldn't put up with. Maybe he'd put her in her place by telling her like he did. So, instead of apologizing, he leaned back in his chair and continued to stare at Stella. "Are you still up for whatever it is we'll have to do?"

Stella flinched, somewhat surprised that Pitch was still talking to her. "Oh. Uh. Yeah. I mean, it won't be easy. But nothing worthwhile is, right?" She smiled weakly, hoping he would do the same and lighten the mood a bit.

To her relief, he did. "Right." He agreed.

* * *

Author's Note: Alrighty, so I'm thinking of starting up another ROTG fanfiction. Maybe, maybe not. If I do, it'll take place in the regular ROTG universe and it'll have a handful of OCs. Not quite sure about it yet, but yeah. Also:

InfinitelyOkay: I don't wanna give away anything, but I can tell you that you will for sure find out here in the next couple of chapters for some of your questions :)


	19. All Or Nothing

The pep rally was great, consisting of the teachers playing ridiculous games this time to pretty much everyone's relief. They usually picked random names from each grade to partake in the festivities of a pep rally and the extremely amusing idea of having the teachers play a game was fine with everyone.

Lucky Rallon- he got to sit out because all the teachers were from required classes, and not extra-curricular.

Aster mentioned that to Rallon when they were making their way back to the band room afterwards, "When are they gonna make you get out there on the court, Rallon?"

Rallon simply grinned, taking the neck strap of his saxophone off of his shoulders. "Aster, I make music and teach it. And that's all I want to do."

* * *

Later that night the band was setting up, trying to get everything done before they had to go on the field to play 'Open Arms' by Journey for the homecoming court. It was getting noticeably colder now, and people were complaining of the weather in their uniforms.

That was the thing about uniforms: You were either too hot or too cold. There was no comfortable in between.

Aster could overhear Stella and Pitch talking as he checked his podium to make sure everything was in its place. He looked around, finding Kris standing near the stairs on the bleachers, talking to a few members of the trombone section. He wanted to run over to the concession stand with his friend before they had to go on so he could get a bottle of water.

He looked around for Rallon, before realizing that he wasn't with the band. He must've been over at the visitor's side, conversing with the other band's director like he usually did.

_Well, I could just tell someone to tell Rallon._

He looked around before realizing there was only one simple conclusion

Pitch was closest and Aster didn't want to waste time.

"Hey, uh, Pitch!" Aster called out, walking the few steps between the two odd teens.

Stella pointedly ignored him, turning her face away as Pitch answered him.

"What?" Pitch replied, trying not to sound bothered.

Aster eyed him for a moment, wondering if he should trust him. He sighed, feeling a bit defeated. He couldn't always expect the worst of Pitch. Besides, if Rallon questioned Aster about where he was, he could point out that he told Pitch to tell him. "Can you tell Rallon that I'll be over at the concession stand if he comes back? It'll only take a minute."

"Take your time." Stella muttered under her breath.

Pitch raised his eyebrows, surprised at Stella's outburst. He could understand her frustration with Tiana, but Aster too? Maybe he was rubbing off on her a little too much.

Aster groaned, momentarily forgetting the reason why he'd went over to them in the first place. "Give a rest, will you? It's homecoming."

Stella narrowed her eyes.

"Come on now. Let's not do this." Pitch said in a smooth, calm voice.

Aster saw right through it and he found himself becoming incredibly angry with Pitch's fakeness and was overwhelmed with a desire to stop it. "Cut it out, Pitch. I know you agree with Stella." Aster suddenly growled.

Now that caught Pitch off guard. He wasn't expecting Aster to call him out. At least not yet.

"Cut what out?"

Aster balled up his hands. "You know what I'm talking about. I'm not putting up with it. Not anymore."

Pitch drew his eyebrows inward, turning his mouth into a rather unattractive snarl. "Are you sure you'd rather me show you how I really feel?" he spat in a low voice, leaning towards Aster and giving up the façade.

Aster huffed, staring right into Pitch's slate grey eyes with his bright green ones. "I don't care. Just as long as you stay outta my way." He turned to leave then, his gold cape shimmering and spinning out.  
Pitch stuck his foot out without even thinking, catching Aster's foot.

Aster stumbled before being thrown down by his own short burst of momentum, his knees slamming into the dirt and his palms digging into the ground to stop himself.

_What. The. Hell._

"I'll do what I want, Aster. You had a choice. All or nothing. You chose all just now." Pitch said lightly, dark humor in his voice as he watched Aster on the ground.

Stella started laughing, as if it were the funniest thing in the world.

The fallen drum major quickly pushed himself up from the ground, now in a rage and spun back around to grab Pitch by the collar of his uniform.

Pitch didn't look all that threatened by Aster's anger and looked at him dully, as if Aster weren't one of the strongest people in school and he didn't have a tight grip on him.

"Go ahead Aster. Hit me. Make my night. Make Rallon's night. I'm sure he'd appreciate a bloodied up drum major." Pitch seethed, crossing his arms.

Stella watched with wide and scared eyes; she'd shut up as soon as Aster grabbed Pitch.

Aster really debated letting his fist fly lose and straight into Pitch's stupid smirk. But he couldn't do that. Rallon probably would've kicked both of them out of band if he did. Or maybe not. When it came down to it, though, Aster didn't want to find out.

Also, they were in front of the entire band and that could cause trouble all on it's own if he acted out.

With that realization, Aster let go of Pitch forcefully, shoving him back a bit.

Pitch rolled his eyes. "A bit dramatic, but good choice."

Aster shot Pitch a deadly glare before turning around, this time successfully making his way over to Kris without interruption.

"Hey, Kris." Aster said, getting his friend's attention.

Kris looked over his shoulder at the sound of his name. The familiar Australian voice didn't sound all too happy which was definitely not a good thing. He told the members of his section to go back up in the stands and play their scales before facing a red-faced Aster. "What happened?" Kris saw Aster's dirt-covered knees and his eyes widened before he glanced back up at his face. "Your uniform!"

Aster's face went blank, his face reddening even more as he bent down to look at his now dirty band pants. "Oh, come on! You've got to be kidding me!" He swatted his hands at the dirt splotches furiously.

"Aster, _what_ _happened_?" Kris repeated.

"Fucking- I don't even-" Aster swore, straightening up and pressing a hand to his face and walking around Kris.

Kris furrowed his eyebrows. Something was definitely wrong. He looked back up, noticing that Aster was making his way to the concession stand. "Hey-wha- Aster!" He jogged up to his friend with concern. "Aster, tell me what happened!"

Aster let out a loud burst of laughter before covering his face with his hands. "I am pissed beyond belief right now. Pitch- I just- Ugh!" The frustrated teen threw his hands in the air before allowing them to rest limply at his sides. "I got him to drop the act!" He laughed again before going on. "I got tired of it and I got him to drop the act. He tripped me and told me 'All or nothing, Aster. All or nothing!'" Aster mimicked Pitch's accent ridiculously, making him sound nasally and even more obnoxious- if that were possible.

"All or nothing?" Kris asked, incredulous. He couldn't believe what he was hearing. Pitch admitted it was an act? And then tripped Aster?

Aster looked back up at Kris, pushing his bangs back out of his face. He took a deep breath, knowing that he needed to calm down. He got pretty bad headaches when he was this angry and he wasn't up for dealing with that _and_ Pitch during their homecoming game. "Yeah. All or nothing. I'll explain on the way over and back, I just-" Aster huffed once again. "I need to get a drink."

* * *

"Tiana! Tiana is that you? Oh my God!"

Tiana jerked around at the sound of her name, ribbon and flag in her hands, only to be met with a crushing hug.

The smell of artificial strawberries captured her, and she immediately knew who it was that was hugging her.

"Grace!" Tiana laughed, as the bleach-blonde girl let go of her.

Grace grinned at Tiana, showing off a bright white smile. It was so weird to see her at a game without a uniform on and instead clad in a pair of shorts and a tank top. "You did it!" she squealed. Then her eyes did a once-over of Tiana's uniform. "Are you serious? These are so cool! Why didn't Mrs. Daley choose something like this while I was still in the guard?" Before Tiana could get another word out, Grace grabbed the flag and ribbon out of her hands. "Hands full? Don't worry, I gotcha!" Grace winked a heavily lined blue eye.

It took Tiana a moment to process everything that had just happened, and when she did, she hurried to keep up with Grace, who was making her way over to the other color guard girls.

Grace was always hyperactive and always managed to find things to talk about. That was her talent and she used it for the greater good by making conversations easy for the freshmen that didn't know anybody. She was also pretty nice and never let anyone insult her or the guard girls without a good retort that was sure to put the perpetrator in their place afterwards.

As soon as Tiana caught up to her, Grace asked casually, "So, how's your boyfriend?"

Tiana rolled her eyes and motioned for Grace to give her the flag; she wanted to practice as soon as they got to the girls. Grace complied and once she did, Tiana defended herself. "He's not my boyfriend."

Grace shrugged, "Why not? He's cute." She shot Tiana a mysterious smile and wiggled her eyebrows.

"Grace!"

"What?"

Tiana's cheeks burned and she knew she must be blushing. If only Grace knew of what happened last week.

Grace saw Tiana blushing and stopped dead in her tracks, grabbing Tiana by the arm. She gasped and then whispered, "Tiana, do you actually like him?"

"No, I like someone else." Tiana blurted, surprising even herself.

Grace's eyes widened and immediately, her hands were on Tiana's shoulders. Her mouth was curled into an excited grin as she asked, "You like someone else?"

Tiana's mouth hung open, unsure of what to say.

_I like someone else?_

"OhmyGodtellme!" Grace demanded in a shrill voice. "Who is it!"

Without warning, Aster's grinning face amongst the many art students on Monday flashed through her mind.

"Oh God." Tiana mumbled, caught up in her thoughts.

Grace now looked horribly confused. That was totally not the response she was expecting from the younger girl. "Uh, Tiana? Are you okay?"

_I can't like Aster! No! I-I hardly even know him! But he _is _pretty nice. And he's funny. And he always smells clean, like some sort of musky soap. And his hair is cute, like the way it's all blonde and choppy and-_

_OH MY GOD._

Tiana nearly dropped the flag in her hands. "I like him!" she squeaked.

"What? Like who? Tiana! Tiana, you can't just leave me hanging like that!" Grace said, waving her hands in front of a very dazed and shocked Tiana.

"What's wrong?" A familiar male voice asked.

Tiana snapped out of her daze as Grace gasped once again, welcoming the owner of the voice over with a hug. "Jack!"

_Are you freaking kidding me?_

"Hi, Grace." Jack said, but his eyes were on Tiana as Grace threw her arms around him. He mouthed w_hat's wrong_, but Tiana simply shook her head in response, pursing her lips together as if it would help her stop her constant and unwavering stream of new thoughts.

"So, Tiana was just telling me about her latest crush." Grace stated, unknowing of just how big of deal her comment was.

Jack's jaw dropped and he stared at Tiana in disbelief. "Oh. That."

"Grace!" Tiana snapped.

Things were going downhill, and they were going downhill _fast_.

"Don't be shy! Now, spill! Give me all the details! And try to not space out this time." Grace said, continuing her walk over to the guard girls.

Absentmindedly, Jack and Tiana followed after, staying behind the bubbly former guard member. Things were slowly getting back to normal before this, and now it seemed as if they backed up entirely, even stepping onto completely new and terrifying territory.

"Grace, I-I don't feel like talking about it. I just want to focus on, uh, twirling. That's all. Please." Tiana finally managed to stutter out, looking at Jack the entire time.

Jack bit his lip and looked away, staring at the ground before clearing his throat. "Uh, yeah, I should probably get back over to my section. I just came over to say hi." Before Grace could protest, Jack said goodbye and strode off, watching only the ground as he did so.

Grace turned at the sound of quick and shuffled footsteps on the grass and frowned. "Bummer. I was looking forward to talking to that kid." She turned and faced Tiana as she walked backwards. In a quiet voice she asked, "Did I say something wrong? I mean, he knows you have a crush, right? You guys are best friends, after all."

Tiana forced a smile, knowing that it wasn't really Grace's fault. If Jack and Tiana didn't share a kiss last Friday, it wouldn't have bothered either of them as much as it did now. "Yeah, he's just being a guy. Y'know, leaving us to talk about… girl… things."

Grace gave her a curious look, questioning Tiana's statement. However, she didn't ask anything of it and instead turned around and started walking right next to Tiana. "Right." She said, but her tone gave away that she didn't necessarily believe Tiana. "Girl things."


	20. Hello Homecoming- And All of Your Doings

Jack had made his way over to the bleachers, about to head up the stairs with a cluttered head, when yet another voice, light and feminine, called for him.

For a moment, he thought Tiana had went after him. The thought gave him a split second of elation and he spun around at the voice-

-And came face to face with Sam, the girl that had been crushing on Jack ever since he was a sophomore.

"Oh, Sam." Jack said, disappointed that it wasn't Tiana.

Sam was about the same height as Jack, with dark brown hair and bright blue eyes. She was cute, but she'd always proved herself crazy within the last two years with her constant obsession with Jack- which made her not all that cute.

Sam smiled at Jack when he recognized her, completely ignoring the bored tone in his voice when he did. "Hey, I was just, uh, wondering… Do you still go to the homecoming dance with Tiana every year?"

Jack stared at Sam for a moment, mulling over what he could say. Tiana and Jack had agreed to go in a giant group with Aster, Kris, and Sandy a couple of days before. They'd still be at the invitational for the first hour of the dance but it was three hours long altogether and no one wanted to miss it their senior year. However, because of his most recent discovery, he wasn't sure if he still wanted to go.

"Uh, why do you ask?"

The younger girl ran a hand through her long and wavy hair. "I was just wondering. Y'know I'm going too."

"Are you, now?" Jack said, with a bit of fake interest as he tried to figure out how to navigate his way out of the conversation entirely.

Sam nodded. "Mhm. So, are you going or not?"

"Uh, yeeeees?" Jack dragged out his answer, unsure of how true it really was.

Sam furrowed her eyebrows and tilted her head. Laughing uneasily, she pointed out, "That doesn't sound like a definite answer, Jack. Something wrong with you and Tiana?"

_Holy mother of- that's none of your business!_

Jack fought back the urge to scowl and snap at Sam. Instead, he answered in a surprisingly even voice, "No, it's just that I have stuff to do beforehand and I'm not sure-"

"I could wait up for you! I mean, if walking in late is what you're worried about." Sam cut him off eagerly.

"It's not that, Sam. I just don't know if I'll be up for a dance afterwards." Jack explained half-heartedly.

Sam's face fell at Jack's response. "Oh. Okay. Well, I'm going to go find my friends. See you around." The young girl turned on her heel and promptly began walking away.

_Well, now I've made two people uncomfortable in one night. You go, Jack. _

Something about the look on Sam's face bothered Jack. She was only trying to be nice. Maybe taking her to the dance wouldn't be a bad idea. After she'd liked him for years now and who knows? She might've changed in the past couple of months, this being the first time for them to actually interact during the school year…

But Tiana hated her.

And Sam probably still hated Tiana, as well.

But Tiana and Jack weren't exactly comfortable with conversing right now.

And she probably wouldn't even say anything to Jack regarding Sam because of that, especially if they were in a group with three other people.

Perhaps taking Sam wouldn't be as bad as he'd originally thought.

"Hey, Sam, wait!" Jack called out.

Sam turned around, eyes wide in surprise. "Yeah?"

Jack took a deep breath before saying, "You know, whatever I've got in my closet probably won't match your dress, right?"

Sam gasped, her entire face lighting up with glee. "Is that a yes?"

Jack smiled, "Meet me there tomorrow. The reason why I'll be late is because of something for band, but you don't need to wait up for me, okay?"

* * *

'Open Arms' was great show tune when you didn't have to play it for 10 minutes straight, without stopping and without any mercy.

They were about seven minutes into playing, and there were still five more girls that had to walk with their parents and escort in tow.

Aster's arms were killing him as he conducted. He'd managed to lower his arms a couple of times (embarrassingly enough) before Rallon caught him and motioned for him to put his arms up higher.

_How the hell am I supposed to do this during halftime?_

It wasn't any easier for the band either. Their horn angles were suffering considerably and Rallon had to keep motioning for certain sections to keep their horn angles at the right height. Most of the seniors and juniors were doing a good job, but the sophomores and freshman weren't do so great.

The luckiest out of the bunch was probably the color guard; they only had to stand at attention on every yard line, flanking the band on either side.

However the maids were also a great distraction for the band's failing horn heights and sore drum majors around the last half of all of the walking and playing- but they could've walked just a _little_ bit faster to end the playing altogether.

At least that's what Aster thought.

As the last maid walked to her spot on the football field, Mr. Rallon nodded at Mrs. Daley, who walked over to Pitch's podium as Mr. Rallon walked over to Aster's. Together they tapped the podiums, letting the drum majors know they could stop. The drum majors cut off the band and everyone put down their instruments, silently thanking the high heavens above that they no longer had to play.

* * *

"Well, my lips are shot."

Kris grimaced before agreeing with Jack. "Mine too."

"Oh, please. I doubt I'll feel my arms in the morning."

Jack and Kris both simultaneously glared at Aster. "Neither will we." They both said at the same time.

As the two brass players looked at each other in amusement, Aster frowned. "Hey, you weren't conducting the whole freaking time."

Sandy bumped Aster's arm and once he got the drum major's attention, he held up his mellophone as if he were at attention. Then when Aster gave him a confused look, Sandy huffed in exasperation and stuck out his elbows to accentuate the fact that he had to hold up his arms as well.

"Oh, come on! You guys have been doing it for years!" Aster replied.

"Exactly! We love it, don't get us wrong, but it still sucks." Jack told him.

Kris sighed as he began to head back up to the bleachers with Sandy and Jack in tow. "And we still have to march show and invitational too."

"You'll get over it!" Aster called up to them, smiling a bit.

Kris smirked back, waving a hand at him. "Ahhhhh…" he fake-grumbled. "You will too, friend!"

Aster shook his head, chuckling a bit as he headed over to the podium.

* * *

As they were marching, Tiana reminded herself to once again glance over the guard girls and make sure they were doing their best, especially with the amount of seniors they had watching them that night.

It was towards the end of the show when one half of the guard swapped out ribbons and joined the others with flags. The ones that had just put the ribbons down (Tiana included) had to pick up flags that were tapered off at the end. They were stark black but faded to a dark shade of green that was speckled with glitter towards the end. The original flag bearers' flags were the same, except they were blue at the end and not green. After they'd traded out their guard equipment, they began making their way forward slowly from the very back of the field, holding their flags vertically for eight steps and then spinning them slowly over their heads.

The rest of the band was coming together in rows of rectangles that gave the color guard room to march in between them. By the time the band had gotten to their last set, the guard had made their way to the front of the band gracefully.

Once they'd gotten there, they all began to spin and toss their flags in sync, turning once and sweeping their flags through the air.

Tiana shot a nervous glance at the girls surrounding her, making sure they didn't hit the band members that were one yard behind them. They faced the audience again and stilled for a few moments to spin their flags in front of them multiple times. They had to spin their flags around themselves once more and they turned to the left and right, depending on which side of the field they were on.

Tiana glanced at them all once again, just to make sure.

_Okay, okay, good. Oh wait-!_

Cara had caught Tiana's eye when she swung her flag a bit too far out, swinging her flag into the legs of a clarinet.

The clarinet jumped stopped playing before giving Cara a shocked look and taking a couple of steps away from the young guard member to ensure that he would not be hit again.

Cara's mouth opened in shock and it looked like she said sorry, but the drill was still going on and it forced her to turn awkwardly back to the sidelines with the rest of the guard.

Tiana had managed to keep up with the other girls as she watched Cara carefully, still forcing her smile on her face.

She saw Cara's lower lip quiver with how upset she was and Tiana knew to make a beeline for the poor girl once they were off the field and had grabbed all their equipment.

Soon enough, the drum majors allowed the band to march off and exit the football field. As soon as they snatched the ribbons and were out of the gate, Tiana looked for Cara and felt an immediate need to come to her assistance when she saw who had beat her to the younger girl.

Stella.

And from the looks of it, she wasn't exactly comforting her.

"Hey, are you okay?" Tiana asked as soon as she'd made her way over.

Stella shot Tiana a glare as Cara turned to look at Tiana.

Cara nodded, even though she looked miserable, her mascara streaking down her face and her lipstick slightly smudged. "Yes." She replied in a small voice.

"You should try asking the clarinet player you hit that." Stella snapped at Cara, crossing her arms and frowning disappointedly.

Tiana took Cara in for a hug and continued to give the co-captain a dark look. "Excuse you, we all make mistakes."

Stella raised an eyebrow. "I haven't."

"Oh, I beg to differ, Stella." Grace walked up just then, taking a place next to Tiana and Cara.

Stella gritted her teeth, obviously not happy to see the former guard member. "Grace. How nice to see you."

Grace ignored Stella's bitter greeting before continuing her previous statement. "Didn't you knock over both of the flag bins last year?" she questioned Stella. "Right after we got new flags, too?"

Stella looked like she could've slapped Grace. "I'm sorry, but I don't think the guard is any of your business anymore." She growled.

"Once a guard member, always a guard member." Grace retorted, turning to Cara.

Tiana couldn't help but smirk at Grace nearly echoing Aster's words from the day before as Grace tapped Cara's shoulder. Once the freshman pulled away from Tiana, Grace began speaking to her.

"Hey, you guys looked great out there." Grace told Cara in a confident voice. "Makes me wish I could've marched with all you new kids."

"Oh, please." Stella deadpanned.

"If you're not going to help, then leave." Tiana told her harshly.

Grace looked at Stella once more before saying, "Yeah, I see you're hanging out with the jerkwad of the school now. Go ask him what he thought of the show." Grace said, referring to Pitch and jerking her head in the direction of the rest of band.

"He's not a jerk." Stella said, her voice filled with annoyance. But she still listened to Grace to some extent, because she ended up strutting away from the three teens as if it made her seem defiant somehow.

"Thanks." Tiana said, giving Grace a grateful look.

"No problem. What's your name, young one?" Grace said cheerfully, glad that Stella had left.

"Cara."

"Well, Cara, you did splendid. You wanna know about a real doozie regarding flags? Ask your captain." Grace put a hand on Tiana's shoulder, doing her signature wink.

Cara squinted in confusion as Tiana rolled her eyes and said, "It was an accident!"

"What happened, Tiana?"

Tiana sighed, "Ugh, I hit Jack in the face when I was a freshman. That's how we ended up being friends." Tiana wasn't up for explaining the whole thing at the moment, so she stuck with the short and vague version instead.

Cara laughed then, her recent sorrow seeming to fade away. "Nice strategy."

Tiana smiled and bumped her shoulder jokingly. "Oh, hush."

Grace crossed her arms and watched the senior and freshman interact for a moment, happy with her decision to come back for a game. "I think we should socialize, yes? I want to meet the new drum majors. Or at least one. Yeah, I'm content with just meeting one. Preferably the used-to-be-a-hardcore-drummer-dude. And I want to catch up with Jack."

Tiana hesitated, knowing that that could potentially be a recipe for disaster, but she couldn't flat out refuse without Grace knowing something was up. And if she knew something was up, then she would ask and Tiana wouldn't know what to say.

Or rather, she would know what to say, but not know how to properly explain it.

"Uh. Okay. Sure." Tiana said. "Cara, do you want to go?"

Cara nodded as Grace smiled brightly.

"Alright, Color Guard Queen, lead the way." Grace said in a loud voice as she gestured to the band kids behind them.

_Here we go._


	21. Let Us Reminisce

"So you're the new drum major." Grace said, as soon as the girls had made their way over to a small group consisting of Aster, Kris, Sandy, and Jack.

Aster turned to see Grace and welcomed with her a warm smile once he got a glimpse of Tiana and Cara trailing behind her. He was talking to Kris at the moment, but seemed happy to answer Grace immediately. He stuck out a hand, gave a jovial grin, and said, "Yes, I am. And you are…?"

The bubbly girl accepted Aster's hand, shaking it and bending forward a little to make it look a bit ridiculous. "Grace, former guard member and mentor for Tiana."

Tiana leaned around Grace and waved, all too aware of what she'd realized earlier, "Hey there!"

"Ah, see! There she is!" Kris piped up.

"You were looking for me?" Tiana questioned, trying to fight the blush that was surely spreading across her cheeks.

Aster went to say something but was promptly cut off by Kris before he could do so. "Well, since band got off field. What took you so long?"

Cara appeared at Tiana's side then and she asked, "Wait, you guys didn't see me smack a clarinet?"

Aster winced and nodded, "Eh, I saw it. But I see everything from where I'm at."

Cara bit her lip, nodding a bit. "Yeah, I figured. I should probably find that guy. I think he's an upperclassman."

"Nah, It can wait a little bit. Find him towards the end of third quarter. I wanna talk to you guys. Last I checked, it was just Jack and Tiana. Seems you've got a whole herd now." Grace said

Jack smirked, speaking up for the first time since Grace had walked over. "Are you jealous, Grace?"

Grace entertained him by mirroring his mischievous expression. "Of what, Jack?"

"That Tiana gets to hang out with all the cool kids while you're off running around being a legal adult." Jack replied, giving Tiana a nervous look but maintaining his smile.

"Hey, I'm a legal adult now!" Tiana retorted, glad that he'd referred to her. She could tell that he didn't feel exactly comfortable, but was happy that he was at least willing to act like everything was alright for the sake of everyone else in the group.

"Oh my God, that is right!" Grace smacked her palm against her head dramatically as she exclaimed her affirmation. "I forgot about that! How are you liking being 18? Have you sent in applications for college? What about testing? Have you taken the ACT or SAT yet? How abo-"

"Whoawhoawhoa! Grace, Grace, slow down! I've only been 18 for a month. And don't worry, I've got all that stuff taken care of! Either that or I'm working on it!" Tiana reassured Grace, laughing a bit at her friend's frenzy.

Grace sighed, relieved at what Tiana had just said. "Oh, good. You know I waited until the last second for a lot of that stuff and it screwed me over real bad."

"You always waited until the last minute, Grace." A new voice, deeper and more masculine pointed out.

Soon enough, the owner of the voice stepped forward, revealing himself to be a senior from last year as well. Tiana recognized him as Aidan and he was the section leader for the trumpets the year before. Two other former brass members flanked him, excited smiles stretched across their faces.

Grace let out a squeal of delight before jumping forward and hugging Aidan. "Oh my God! You're here! When did you get here?"

"I showed up a bit before halftime. By the way, Jack, the trumpets sounded fantastic tonight."

"Thanks, Aidan." Jack beamed, relishing the fact that a former section leader had complimented him. "They're working pretty hard this year."

Aidan nodded, "I can tell.

The group of band members, former and current, all joined in conversation, talking about college and band and introducing new members such as Sandy and Cara to Aidan, his friends, and Grace. It was only slightly awkward with Jack there, but Tiana quickly got over it and instead focused on catching up with last year's seniors and joking around with everyone.

Some of the seniors had brought their instruments and (with Rallon's permission) played along with the band during 4th quarter, which caused a flood of fond memories to swarm everyone and confuse the younger and newer members of band. By the end of the night, however, a lot more friendships were made, as well as strengthened.

"So, senior night is the last game right?" Grace questioned as she walked with Tiana to her car.

"Yeah. Next week is an away game, which I personally think is ridiculous. But after that we have two more games that are home."

"Really? There's another away game? Why are they having homecoming now?"

Tiana sighed before explaining the odd decision their school had made earlier in the year. "They said it would take away from the feeling of homecoming if we had it after we'd already had another game here before then."

Grace scrunched up her face, a little perturbed. "They did that my freshman year. I remember that. Except it was color's day, I think. I don't know, I could be wrong."

"Yeah, but at least it's our last away game. I'm getting kind of tired of riding on a bus for what feels like forever." _And experiencing incredibly awkward moments with my best friend._ With that thought, Tiana shot a look at the empty passenger seat in her car.

Usually Jack rode with her, but for once Jack's mom had allowed him to actually take her car with the promise of responsibility in mind. He'd already left, gone with Aidan and his friends to reminisce at his house for the night. Kris and Sandy had gone as well. Aster just went home, knowing that if he wanted to do his best at the invitational, he was going to need a good night's rest. Tiana planned to do the same as Aster. The band had to meet around three in the afternoon, but plans were usually made to go somewhere in the morning or at noon in Tiana's house.

Sadly, Tiana thought of her sister. She'd tried to make it to homecoming, but her studies coupled with her guard membership limited her free time considerably.

Tiana made a mental note to call her in the morning when it was likely she wasn't busy.

Grace and Tiana parted ways, sharing their goodbyes with a hug and an agreement to show up for senior night.

It was nice to see all of them again, but Tiana couldn't help but leave the school feeling thankful that the night had ended. Now she just had to get through the invitational and homecoming dance tomorrow.

And that wouldn't be much of a problem, right?

* * *

Author's Note: As you can probably tell, updates are slowing down a bit. Sorry about that, but school's starting up again so I won't have as much free time to work on fanfiction and other fun things. I promise to update _at least_ twice a week (I'll figure out which days would work best and post them on my profile) while I'm doing the school thing.

This story is seriously so much fun to write and I don't have any plans on abandoning it, so don't worry about that :)

Also, thanks for the reviews and favorites and follows! You guys are (as Rallon's expressive gestures might say) RADICAL.

(P.S. I saw Frozen last night and loved it! Totally recommend seeing it!)


	22. The Impressive Invitational

Jack walked into his kitchen, searching for his mother and instead finding his younger sister sitting at the kitchen table, doing her homework. "Hey, where's mom?"

Emma looked up from her spot to see Jack in his band uniform. "Uh, I think she's still getting ready to go into town. Why?"

Jack sighed and walked over to his sister. "I just need help with my uniform but since she isn't here-" He spun around so that his back faced his sister, exposing the fact that his uniform top was still unzipped. "Zip me up?"

Emma got up from her chair before climbing into it so she could stand and make it easier. She took after their mom as far as height went, and was nearly a foot shorter than Jack (however, she still had some growing to do). As she zipped up his uniform, she said, "You know, you could just wear this to the dance tonight."

Jack scoffed, "Why would I wanna do that?"

"I dunno, it looks nice. I'd wear my uniform to a dance."

"Mom would throw a fit. Maybe Rallon would too."

Emma grinned as her brother turned around to face her once she was done zipping him up. "I'm kidding. You look like a dork."

"Soon enough you will too, Em." Jack reminded her as he walked over to the fridge for a bottle of water.

"Not if I join guard!"

Jack shot her a look as he shut the door. "You're not joining guard."

Emma rolled her eyes and jumped off of the chair. She threw her hands in the air, over exaggerating her irritation. "Why does everyone keep saying that!"

"Because you've been taking glock lessons for two years, you nitwit!"

"Jackson, don't call your sister names!" Mrs. Frost called from the hallway as she made her way into the living room.

Emma stuck her tongue out and within a split second, Jack had made his way over to his small sister, scooping her up and throwing her over his shoulder. She screamed in shock and demanded to be put down, but she was laughing all the while, which only egged Jack on.

"What is going on in here?" Mrs. Frost walked into the kitchen, face in full make-up and hair twisted into a low bun. Once she saw what was going on, she relaxed and sighed, simply walking around her children in search of something on the kitchen table. "You two wear me out."

"Mom! _Mom!_ Tell him to- tell him to put me down!" Emma shouted in between laughs.

"Jeez, you keep up the wailing and I'm going to throw you over a cliff!" Jack said as he began to walk out of the kitchen.

"You will do no such thing!" Their mother called. "And put Emma down! I don't have time to drive anyone to the hospital, whether it be because Emma hits her head on a doorway or because she smacks you!"

"She hits like a wimp!" Jack shouted back, making his way over to the couch.

Emma smirked and balled her hand up into a fist before punching Jack's back.

"Jesus, Em!" Jack cried before flopping her down on the couch. "That freaking hurt." He reached back, unsuccessfully trying to rub the spot she'd hit.

"I'm not a wimp!" Emma retorted.

"Has anyone seen my purse?" Mrs. Frost shouted from the kitchen.

Jack glanced up at the clock in the living room. Twenty minutes until three. They needed to leave the house pretty soon or else the band would leave without him if they had to, but Jack wasn't willing to let that happen. Not with his solo in mind. "Mom, we kinda need to go!"

"Jack, don't you start with me!"

"Seriously, though! Do you want the bus to leave me behind, forcing us to go all the way to the invitational ourselves? Do you want me to step out of the car sheepishly as everyone stares?" Jack ran around the corner and back into the kitchen before exclaiming the next part in faux agony "DO YOU WANT ME TO BE A LAUGHING STOCK?"

Mrs. Frost simply sighed before walking up to her son and taking him by the shoulders gently. "Jack, calm down. I know you're a little antsy because of your solo but we'll make it. I just need to find my purse." And then an expression of concern crossed her face, causing her to narrow her own brown eyes slightly. "Why didn't you ride with Tiana?"

"She had plans." Jack lied. Really, Jack wasn't sure what Tiana was up to this weekend, but he knew he didn't want to ride with her. Last night's news shocked him and to be honest he was a little hurt.

Tiana was his best friend and she didn't even tell him that she liked someone.

And it was his fault.

_All my fault. Stupid impulses…_

Mrs. Frost patted her son's shoulders once before smiling. "I'm going to go see if I can find my purse in my room. Go on ahead and get in the car with your sister."

"Yes ma'am." Jack replied as his mother walked around him to go towards the back of the house. "Come on, Emma!" he said as he walked back into the living room. "We're going!"

* * *

A constant and rhythmic stream of tapping sounded throughout the semi-empty halls of the high school.

Tiana pursed her lips together, bringing her eyebrows inward in confusion as she followed the sound to it's source (and also her destination).

A few students were walking in and out of the band room, some with cases and some without. A small group of freshmen were huddled in a circle outside just outside the bustling band room, all of the members' faces staring right into the open door of it. Anyone could understand why; whoever was playing at the moment sure knew how.

Tiana stepped past the huddled freshman before revealing herself to the doorway and to the mystery snare player.

Surely enough, it was Aster playing on a snare meant for concert band. It was almost amusing to see how Aster held himself while playing on the drum. Despite the fact that he never faltered the rhythm, his face was scrunched up into a sort of hardened focus and something close to confusion as he stared at the piece of music on the stand in front of him.

He continued playing for a few more bars before stopping and grabbing the music off of the stand. His bright green eyes searched the band room until they found Tiana, who hadn't moved from her spot in the doorway.

"Uh," he started, a smile curling on his face. "Hey."

Tiana snapped out of her stare and smiled back, "Hi!" There was a brief pause and the captain quickly moved to fill it by stating it a too-enthusiastic voice, "I like the tapping thing!"

_Tapping thing? Did I seriously just say that? Somebody, please, just tape my mouth shut for the rest of the day._

Aster looked at her for a moment before laughing and shaking his head. "Thanks. It's All-Region music."

As her cheeks reddened, Tiana made a beeline the flag room, only muttering, "Welcome."

She had already turned to go, but Aster still watched her. She was in her color guard uniform and her face was covered in makeup, but her hair still rested at her shoulders. Now that he thought about it, she didn't wear it down as nearly as much as she did up. Most of the time it was pulled back into either a braid or a bun, granted her usual buns weren't anything like what she called the "headache inducing" ones Mrs. Daley insisted they wear for games and such. She only wore it down every now and then.

It was a nice change, Aster had decided. But really, he liked her either way.

* * *

The invitational took place at a school an hour away called Astoria. Mr. Rallon had told people to eat beforehand and bring money so they could purchase food at the invitational if they wanted to.

Invitationals were always more fun than Region, with the opportunity to gallivant and talk with other schools' band members in a friendly environment. The band that hosted it was always up for talking to anyone and everyone that came to their school for the invitational.

Evermont never went to the invitational either, and when Rallon was questioned as to why, he told them that their band director said it was too far.

Oh well- not like anyone was missing them anyways.

Rallon was also very aware of the homecoming dance that night and promised everyone they'd still have a bit of time to go if they wanted.

"Might not get the whole dance, and you all know I'm real sorry about that. The bus ride'll take up the first hour, but you'll still be able to go if you really want to." He'd told them earlier that week.

So, the band socialized with other band members while some people ate and others watched performing bands in the stands. Then they set up and got ready to play next

Jack had to admit, he was nervous when they had to compete.

And it definitely didn't help that he had to play a solo this time. He'd done it the night before, but this was obviously much different.

_Being nervous is good though, right? It makes us perform at our best, right?_

As they marched onto the field, Jack subconsciously looked for Tiana. He knew that she was already a nervous person when it came to marching, and competing was no exception either.

Tiana had already taken her place on the field and was pulsing in step with everyone else as they got to where they needed to be as well, that signature guard smile already plastered across her face as she held yet another kind of flag, one that was streaked with every color you could imagine. She had placed the others towards the front, where the guard would make their way before running all over the field for their drill.

Aster and Pitch had climbed up to their podiums, having not said a word to each other since the night before when they had their argument- not that either one of them wanted to talk to each other in the first place.

Rallon and Mrs. Daley watched their band carefully as they set to beat of a single snare.

As soon as everyone had made it to their place, Aster and Pitch signaled each other before blowing the whistle three times, signaling the band itself to turn and face their audience.

The announcer read off the routine intro for the Burgess Marching Hawk Band, mentioning solos and all the leaders' names before allowing their drum majors to salute and face their band for conducting. The whistle for a horns-up came and Jack quickly drew in a few breaths to dry his lips, making it easier for himself to play in the high octaves.

_Alrighty, let's get the show on the road._

* * *

Sometime later, when the sky had darkened considerably and the lights on Astoria's field had lit up the field with it's artificial light for the rest of the performing bands, the awards were being given out.

All the drum majors from all 12 schools that had participated in the invitational were lined up on the sideline, patiently waiting for their school to be given their awards. They'd already given out the participation awards, calling out the name of each school and their show as they did, and now it was on to awards given to the best lines of each school.

Brass was called, and Jack crossed his fingers, hoping that Burgess had gotten the award.

Much to Jack's distaste, it went to a school of a considerably larger size.

_Of course, they always go for the bigger schools._

Woodwind was next and, much to Jack's pleasant surprise, Burgess was called and Aster and Pitch stepped forward, saluted, and accepted the trophy from Astoria's drum major gladly.

Well, Aster was glad. Pitch, however…

Percussion went to another school as well, which bothered Aster a bit, just as watching the award for best color guard go to another school bothered Tiana as well.

But things began to quickly look up.

The award for best soloist was next, and before Jack could even begin to process that he qualified for the award, Kris was slapping him on the shoulder and saying with the widest of grins, "Good job, friend!"

Jack blinked and noticed that quite a few Burgess people were smiling and looking him while they clapped. "Wait, what?"

Sandy, who sat on the other side of him, nudged his shoulder before gesturing at Aster and Pitch as they saluted and accepted yet another award before setting it down at their feet.

It was difficult to see with the hat in the way, but Jack could've sworn he saw the Australian smiling at him too.

And then it dawned on him.

"Oh my God, wait! I won?" Jack asked, both excited and completely stunned.

Just as the clapping died down so the last award could be called out, Kris laughed and said, "Yes! You won, Jack!"

Jack stared back for a moment, his mouth frozen into an open smile, and then he burst into a fit of laughter and threw his fist in the air. "HECK YEAH!" he shouted.

Down on the field, Aster couldn't help but feeling a little more hopeful at getting the next award: best drum major.

Not many of the other schools had more than one drum major and there was a possibility of that lessening their chances of winning. Usually, it either looked really good or really bad when two drum majors conducted.

Aster was really hoping they looked good, rather than bad.

"The last award is for best drum major and then we'll move on to ratings." The announcer stated. "The award for best drum major this year at the Astoria Invitational goes to…"

_Come one, come on, come on Burgess!_

"The Burgess High School Marching Band's Aster Springslin and Pitchiner Black."

Aster couldn't help but send Pitch a stunned look as they stepped forward. Pitch simply rolled his eyes in response and then nodded so they could salute once again.

_Ha! We won!_

The feeling of elation was only furthered when the judges read off the ratings and gave Burgess a superior rating of 1.

Mr. Rallon was impressed to say the least. He told Aster and Pitch as they loaded up that it'd been awhile since they'd gotten so many line awards.

"I'm proud of you two!" Mr. Rallon told them just before they got on their bus. "Now, keep it up so we can get another superior rating at Region!"

"Will do!" Aster called as Rallon strode off the help close the band trailer.

Pitch left Aster by promptly climbing onto the bus without so much as glancing at his fellow drum major.

"Congrats, Aster!" Kris shouted from behind him, before capturing him in a bear hug.

"Oh God, North! You're gonna kill me before we get to Region!" Aster swatted at his friend's arms with what little control he had. Kris's hugs weren't exactly comfortable or cushy to say the least, and it made breathing a struggle for the leaner of the two band members.

Kris let go and then raised his dark eyebrows in question. "You think you are ready to dance, superior drum major?"

Aster squinted his eyes a bit and gave a sly smile before answering, "Oh, you know I am."

* * *

Author's Note: Sorry this is a day late! I had to do a bit of research and find out what awards were given out for an invitational! Next chapter should be up by Friday, so keep an eye out for that :)


	23. Over the Boundaries Whilst at Homecoming

Tiana managed to curl the front sections of her hair before pulling the rest back into a bun. Her bangs were being a bit of nuisance, constantly falling back into her lined eyes and slightly obscuring her vision.

Her makeup matched her dress without being overbearing, only showing a hint of blue at the corner of her eyes, whereas the rest of her eyeshadow was a pale silver.

Her dress was strapless and composed of a blue sparkly material, ending at about mid-thigh. From there, multiple feathers of different colors- green, yellow and purple- extended until they just barely skimmed the tops of her knees. The dress was beautiful and something she was excited to wear. It reminded her of their color guard uniforms.

She decided to top off the look with a pair of dangling silver earrings, a stack of silver bangles, and a pair of strappy silver heels that added three inches to her height.

Smiling at herself in the mirror as she slid the earrings on, she congratulated herself on getting ready so quickly and efficiently. As soon as she got home, she took off her uniform and immediately began the process of getting ready and only took about half an hour, which was a new record.

"Oh, you look stunning!" Her mother beamed as she came up behind Tiana. Carefully, she looped her arms around her daughter, so as to not mess up her hairdo before gazing at her with the exact same violet eyes.

They were standing in the living room as Tiana checked her reflection on a group of small mirrors hanging on the wall, a last minute check-up before she headed out the door.

"Thanks, Mom." Tiana replied, smiling as she turned around to give her mom a hug.

Her mother gasped and pulled away, looking at Tiana with eagerness. "Let's take some pictures!" Before Tiana could protest, her mom walked away and called for Tiana's father. "Honey, get the camera! Tiana's about to leave!"

"Mom, no, I'm already late and-"

"It'll just be a couple of pictures!"

Tiana groaned, figuring that the guys were probably already there and waiting on her. "Mom, please!"

A moment later, Tiana's mom had dragged her father into the room from their own. "There, see? Look at her!" her mother exclaimed.

"You look beautiful, sweetie." Her father said as he gave her a reassuring look. He knew how Tiana's mom was and was all too familiar with her need to photograph and fawn over anything and everything their daughters had ever done.

"Ooh, I'll get my phone! I'm sure your sister would love a picture."

And so then both of her parents stood before her as Tiana put on her guard smile and placed her hand on her hip. She knew the drill (heh) and remembered that that was the pose her mom preferred for pictures.

A couple of minutes later, Tiana was heading out the door after her goodbyes with a green clutch in hand and an iron will to make it through the night without a problem.

* * *

"Hey, my brother told me about how good you guys did at that competition thing tonight and I just wanted to say congrats!"

Aster widened his eyes at the sight of the freshman girl before him. He had a feeling that if he weren't involved in band, the younger girl would've cared less about how well the band went, even if her own brother was in it.

"Uh, thank you!" Aster shouted over the thumping music in the cafeteria, turning his eyes to scan the crowd for Kris or anyone else he knew.

"No problem!" The girl said before being tugged away by some of her friends, who were apparently embarrassed that their friend had decided to speak to the drum major.

"Girls sure take a liking to you too, eh?"

Aster spun around and was faced with none other than Jack Frost. "I get the impression you know what that's like, Frosty?"

Jack nodded, crossing his arms over his light blue button up shirt. "Oh yeah, definitely. And, uh, hey. I brought someone here with me tonight. She's a junior and she's-"

"Whoa, Jack. Hold on. You brought someone _here_? Like a date?" Aster interrupted. slightly bewildered by Jack's news.

The trumpet player looked away and answered in a shy voice, "Well, yeah. Her name is Sam. She asked me last night. I didn't wanna be rude so…"

Aster frowned, realizing that his response might've been a bit harsh. But he'd never heard of this 'Sam' girl! He didn't even know what she looked like. Nevertheless, he tried to back down a little. "Right, right. Cool."

"Yeah. She's grabbing something to drink right now." Jack said.

Aster nodded.

His response was quickly followed by an agonizingly obvious silence as the two teens stood around, waiting for other people to show up.

Jack cleared his throat, getting ready to talk rather loudly to be heard. "Where's Kris? Do you know?"

"Oh! Yeah! He lives a little farther away from school than the rest of us! It'll take him awhile to get back out here! And, uh, Sandy's getting a ride with him too, so that'll postpone his arrival a little more!" Aster paused a moment before asking, "What about Tiana?"

"Tiana?"

"Yeah!"

Aster could've sworn he saw Jack's face twist into worry and sadness before becoming overthrown with his usual laidback expression.

"Uh, I don't know. She does all that girly stuff! Like, y'know, putting on makeup, doing hair, robbing a bank…" Jack joked.

Aster laughed, feeling the nervousness creep up on him at the thought of seeing Tiana again. And what was up with Jack? It seemed wrong for the funny and outgoing trumpet player to seem troubled.

Just as Aster began to refold his green shirt around his elbows to help deal with his nervy feelings, a girl with brown curly hair dressed in an uncomfortably short red dress walked up to Jack, smiling with a drink in her hand.

_And _that_ must be Sam._

"Hey Jack!" Must-Be-Sam shouted before she saw Aster. "Oh, who is this?"

"Aster! He's our drum major!" Then Jack turned to Aster, giving the two a formal introduction. "Aster, Sam! Sam, Aster!"

Aster stuck his hand out, saying with a smile, "Hi there!"

Sam's jaw dropped, confusing Aster, as she still shook his hand. "Oh my God, your accent!"

Jack rolled his eyes as Aster was a bit taken aback by Sam's comment. "Yeah, be careful about that! He isn't all that self-aware!"

Now Aster jerked around to face Jack. "Hey, you were makin' fun of me!"

"Because you weren't self-aware!" Jack pointed out, mouth now curling into a devious smirk as he continued to taunt him. "Do you wanna tell her about mah-ching at the invitational, mate?"

Aster crossed his arms and stood right in front of Jack, allowing himself to tower over the shorter teen. He didn't like it when people made fun of his accent. _As if I can help it!_ "I'm sorry, you wanna repeat that?"

Jack threw up his hands, about to defend himself, but he was interrupted by someone.

"Um, hi!"

Aster and Jack turned at the voice and found Tiana standing next to Kris and Sandy, who both looked unsatisfied with the drum major and trumpet player's bickering.

The Australian quickly backed off of Jack and waved, trying to seem more friendly. "Hi!"

"What's-uh-what's going on?" Tiana said, making herself smile as she glanced between Sam and Jack.

Jack stared for moment, surprised to hear Tiana so flustered. Already he could tell she wasn't happy about Sam being with them. "Sam's my date!" He told her once he'd finally recovered.

"Oh!" Tiana's eyes widened.

No one spoke for a moment until Sam sheepishly said hello to Tiana, "Hi, Tiana!"

Tiana flinched in the slightest at Sam saying her name. "Hey!"

Aster could help but stare at Tiana. She looked beautiful in her dress and he couldn't keep his eyes off of her. What was the most dazzling about her appearance was her eyes, which looked even brighter and more violet thanks to the liner Tiana wore. It still amazed Aster to think someone could have such a unique and pretty eye color.

Kris caught Aster staring and moved to steer the group into a more comfortable setting for the moment, while making a mental note to ask Aster a few questions regarding his aforementioned stare later.

"Shall we find table?" Kris bellowed at everyone.

Sandy was the first to respond, nodding and moving to go towards the left side of the cafeteria, where the school had set up tables for people sit at.

Tiana was next, following Sandy and saying, "Yeah, let's do that."

Everyone else quickly followed, snapping Aster out of his stare and preparing Jack for whatever lay ahead for him and his unexpected guest.

* * *

Okay, so maybe bringing Sam along was a bad idea.

Every time Sam talked or made a comment, Tiana pointedly ignored her and brought up a new subject, always making sure that it was something Sam didn't really know about.

"So how about Manhasset's Band? Did you like their show?" Tiana had mentioned once Sam began to join in a growing conversation, ultimately cutting her off from any understanding.

It began to piss off Jack too. Sam hadn't been rude to her since everyone showed up and Tiana was already acting as if Sam wasn't even there.

_Alright, you know what? Two can play that game._

"I don't know, it was okay. Sam, I think you would've liked it. One band had a show with like the top three pop hits or something. It was really awesome." Jack stated, inviting Sam to join in.

"Oh, really? That's cool." Sam replied, smiling.

Tiana narrowed her eyes, unsure if he was doing it to be nice to Sam or just to bother her. So, she changed tactics and looked at Aster, mustering up the sudden courage to speak to her crush. "Aster, what did you think?"

"I liked it. But obviously they weren't the best." Aster told her, gesturing at himself and referring to the award he'd gotten.

"Hey, I got an award too!" Jack said.

"We all did good. First superior rating in two years." Kris replied.

Aster nodded in agreement. "North is right. I can definitely see us doing well at Region later on. We deserve a superior rating."

"By the way, a superior rating is a 1, which is the best we can do at a competition, Sam." Jack said. And then he dared to meet Tiana's eyes, raising his eyebrows in a way that said _you really think you can get away with that little trick?_

Tiana clenched her jaw before deciding to speak to Aster and only Aster, "You excited for our last away game? I know I am."

"Eh, more ready to get it over with than anything."

"Oh, trust me I can't wait for that either." Tiana stated as she started to hear Jack speak to Sam in hushed tones. She tried to ignore it, but when Sam let out a laugh, she couldn't help but bring attention to it. Turning to look at the younger girl she said, "Got something to share?"

"Oh, Jack was just saying that he would've set you guys up with dates if that's what you wanted and that he can be a real great matchmaker if he tried." Sam giggled.

Jack leaned around Sam, smirking at Tiana. "Could've set you up, too, T."

Tiana found herself becoming increasingly angry with Jack. She tried to keep it under control but once he smirked at her, all desire to keep things humane flew out the window.

With little to no thinking, she cleared her throat, clasped her hands together, and put on her show smile, as if what she were about to say was completely normal. "Are you a virgin, Jack?"

Jack's jaw dropped and Sam's eyes flew wide.

Aster, Kris, and Sandy all gaped at Tiana, disbelief written all over their faces.

"Oh my God." Sam uttered, laughing a bit. She looked beyond uncomfortable, as did everyone else that wasn't Tiana.

Sam's remark seemed to shake Jack out of his shock. Shaking his head, he shut his mouth and looked away from Tiana.

Tiana raised an eyebrow. "Well?"

"That's nobody's business." Jack snapped, voice almost unrecognizable with rage.

Tiana shrank back a bit at how angry Jack sounded, but she didn't let up. "I'm sorry, Jack. Does that make you uncomfortable?"

Jack glared at her before standing up. "What the hell is your problem, T?"

Tiana stood up as well, matching his expression of anger with one of her own. "I think you know exactly what my problem is! And if you're going to ask anyone that question it should be yourself!"

"Uh, I'm going to, uh, the restroom." Sam said quietly before getting up and leaving.

Jack turned, watching Sam leave and frowning. He turned back to Tiana, "Now you ran off my date!"

"Well, I'm sorry!" Tiana grabbed up her purse, the urge to flee overwhelming her. "I'll go too, if that's what you want!"

In response, Jack furrowed his eyebrows and pointed at Tiana. "No, allow me." He growled.

And with that, Jack began to stride away, making his way towards the exit.

Kris looked at his group of friends before sighing and getting up. "I will go after him." He said.

Tiana's face fell as Kris followed Jack out.

_Oh, God._

"Tiana, are you okay?" Aster asked.

Slowly, the color guard captain lowered herself into her seat. She nodded, although she felt sick to her stomach.

She just went off on Jack. Her only friend she'd ever had.

Her best friend.

Tears began to sting her eyes and she quickly pressed her hand against her face, subconsciously aware of all the eye makeup she was wearing.

Aster sat in silence, watching Tiana sit with her hands pressed to her eyes. He wasn't sure what to say. He didn't want to bother her but sitting there like nothing had happened wasn't going to help either. He shot Sandy a pleading look, to which Sandy replied by shrugging at first, and then nudging him forward a little bit.

Meanwhile, Tiana couldn't help but think that all the guys must've hated her.

_Aster probably thinks I'm a total bitch now._

What was she thinking? Asking Jack about something so personal in front of all of their new friends just to spite him was the worst thing she'd ever done.

_I messed up. I really messed up._

To say it surprised Tiana when Aster put an arm around her shoulder would be an understatement. The unexpected contact caused her to jump and jerk around to see Aster giving her a sorrowful look.

It made her want to cry, seeing Aster pity her like that. She didn't deserve it, not after what she'd just done.

"Hey, it's alright. Kris is checking on him. Whatever it is you guys are going through- you'll get over it. I promise." He told her in a soothingly calm voice that Tiana had never heard him use before.

And that's how Tiana ended up leaning against Aster's shoulder as she bawled and he wrapped his arms around her. It felt nice to be comforted after such a long time of not really having anyone around her.

Also, Aster still smelled really good, so that helped a bit as well.


	24. Talk About the Face-Kissing

"Jack! Jack, wait!"

"Just let me leave, Kris!" Jack yelled, not bothering to turn around as he walked towards the front entrance of the school.

"Jack!" Finally the Russian teen caught up with Jack. He placed a hand on his shoulder, stopping the shorter of the two from getting away. "Please, just wait."

"Why should I? My best friend hates me, my date ran off, and I just want to go home."

Kris rolled his eyes. "Tiana does not hate you. Don't you think it could be fixed?"

Jack laughed bitterly before turning away once again. "Ha, I don't know. Things are pretty screwed up."

"What do you mean?" Kris asked, furrowing his eyebrows and following Jack.

"Because-" Jack began, but cut off. He wasn't sure of what to tell Kris, if he should tell him anything to begin with. However, keeping things from people was getting pretty tiring…

"Because…. Because I-I kissed Tiana."

Kris's eyes widened and he looked right through Jack as he slid his large hand off of Jack's shoulder. "Oh…"

Jack frowned. Kris's response was all he needed to see in order to confirm just how messed up everything was. "You see? Now, let me leave. It's probably for the best that I do."

"Wait, wait, wait. Jack, do you like Tiana?" Kris reached out, once again taking his new friend's shoulder.

The trumpet player made a face. "I love her. I mean, she means a lot to me. But, not like that. And before you ask why I kissed her, I don't know. It just happened, y'know?"

"It just happened…" Kris repeated absently. Then he placed a hand on his chin, deep in thought.

Jack had never seen the bulky trombone player look so focused, and quite honestly, it scared him. Who knew what Kris was capable of when he put his thinking cap on? "Uh, yeah. It just happened."

"Have you two talked about it?"

"Yes?"

"When?"

Jack sighed, "Right after it happened."

"And after that?"

Now, Jack leaned away from Kris's grip, unsure of what he was getting to. "Uh, we didn't talk about it after that. We just sort of moved past it."

"No, you did not!" Kris suddenly shouted, not so much angry as frustrated.

"What do _you_ mean?" Jack demanded, frightened by the outburst.

Kris took a deep breath before staring Jack in the eyes, blue against brown. "Did you not see what just happened? You need to talk to her about it!"

"Talk to her about it?"

"Yes! Or at least give sincere apology. Is common courtesy. 'Sorry I kissed your face, may I offer condolences?' Do you not know that is the right thing to do?"

Jack stared at Kris for a moment before crossing his arms. "Alright, alright, I get it. But, I think we all need a minute to cool down before I go waltzing in there, preaching about accidental incidents of face-kissing."

Kris grinned, slapping Jack on the shoulder. "There you go. I will go back. Take some time to yourself."

* * *

Aster saw Kris walking up to the table, nearly charging towards the three of the table's occupants before pointing at Tiana and then jerking his hand back to signal that something was waiting for her in the hallway outside of the cafeteria.

Aster nodded, careful not to disrupt Tiana's crying just yet. She'd just gotten over repeatedly sobbing the words, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm such a bitch, I'm sorry…" into Aster's shirt repeatedly.

To which he'd had to keep saying, "No, no, no, calm down, you're not, calm down…"

After a moment, he shifted away from Tiana ever so slightly, causing Tiana's eyes to snap open in confusion. *

_Oh God, I've been crying my eyes out on the poor guy and he's finally had enough. Great, just great._

"Aster, I'm so-"

"Shhh. I think Kris calmed down Jack a bit." Aster interrupted, nodding at his friend.

Tiana looked over to see Kris with his signature goofy grin on his face, something she'd seen plenty of times in the band room when Rallon complemented the low brass.

_Guess things went well then, huh?_

"I… I should talk to him." Tiana stated, trying to sound as matter-of-factly as possible with the lump in her throat from crying. Realizing how broken her voice sounded, she cleared it and sniffed her nose, wiping her ring fingers underneath her eyes to rid herself of smudged eye makeup. "Any idea where he's at, Kris?" she tried asking in a stronger tone.

Kris nodded, "Yes, he is in the hallway." He paused for a moment as Tiana stood before going on. "Good luck, Tiana."

Tiana gave a weak smile, flattered by Kris's wish to her but now shaking with the idea of facing the friend she'd just fought with.

She didn't look back as she left Aster, Kris, and Sandy at the table, instead deciding to press on through the bustling crowds of people dancing. Somewhere amongst the flurry of people, she saw Jamie standing around his friends, near one of the tall windows in the cafeteria.

Their eyes met each other, and a brief look of questioning crossed Jamie's face. He could see Tiana was upset, just barely, in the darkened space between them.

Quickly Tiana turned away, focused on finding Jack rather than worrying about Jamie. Jack said he was going to talk to him right? Eventually?

Tiana walked out into the hallway, spinning carefully to her right on her heels. She nearly headed in that direction when she noticed a few groups of people standing around, trying to catch a break from the dance themselves.

Jack wouldn't be over there if he wanted to be alone- too many people.

Maybe the other side of the hall? And if not that, the entrance? Was he outside?

_Better turn around and take a look-see._

On the left side of the hallway was a little nook for students if they wanted to sit in front of open area during lunch. Right next to it was yet another hallway leading to the outside. Between the nook and hallway was a brick wall.

And leaned up again the other side of the brick wall?

Jack.

Tiana could see where Jack sat. She frowned, seeing how sad his entire posture seemed to exude sadness and frustration, his brown eyes set straight on the chairs and tables of the sitting area before him, his elbows resting on his knees so that his hands could hang loosely in between.

She thought of calling his name, but that somehow seemed a bit too invasive. So, instead, she slipped off her heels, so as to not make a horde of clacking noises, and walked over the other side of the wall. Carefully, she lowered herself onto the floor, mindful of her dress, and leaned against the wall too. Jack must've known she was there at that point; while her bare feet didn't make as much noise as her heels, it wasn't a completely silently approach.

And he did, but he wasn't sure what to say. So he kept his eyes forward, Kris's lecture on the importance of talking things through ringing in his head.

Tiana put her legs off the side and leaned on her left hand. She started to fidget with her right hand, checking her nails subconsciously and wondering if anything should be said. Soon, the silence between them got unbearable, as it always seemed to be.

_I'm tired of things being like this. I'm sick of it._

She finally found her voice and quietly began to speak. "I… I didn't mean to say that back there. I've just been so… confused. But still, I shouldn't have-" Tiana cut off, squeezing her eyes shut at the recent memory of seeing Jack's angry face after she'd prodded him with the touchy question. "Jack, I don't know why I said that. I don't want to hurt you. I don't want to hurt anybody… You're my best friend. We've known each other for years."

Jack pried his empty gaze off the lockers and looked to his right, where he could see Tiana's hand sticking out from behind the wall. She sounded miserable and he knew he couldn't just let her ramble on about her wrong doings when he'd had his own fair share. He bit his lip and then uncurled himself from the side of the wall, standing up and knowing what his next move should be.

Tiana heard him move and her eyes shot up towards the corner of the wall, where Jack now stood.

They stared at each other for a long moment before Jack held out his hand, inviting Tiana to take his it so she could stand with him, a half-smile on his face encouraging her to do so.

Tiana accepted the offer and stood in front of Jack, now having to look up to see his face.

And then Jack looped his arms around his shoulders, bringing her in for a tight hug. Tiana wasn't sure what to do at first, but then she wrapped her arms around him as well, leaning against Jack's chest.

She could've cried at the contact. It felt like forever since she'd been able to really find comfort in Jack and she was certainly thankful for it. But it seemed she was all out of tears, having cried her heart out on Aster, and replaced that with tightening her arms around Jack even more, shutting her eyes and relishing the hug.

Jack had shut his eyes too, finally feeling as though things were alright. "I should have never… I should have never kissed you, T. And I know we can try to forget about it, but I think you'll agree with me that we're doing a shitty job so far."

Tiana shook in his arms, a muffled laugh going into his shirt.

He opened his eyes, but didn't break up the hug. "I'm sorry."

"I'm sorry too, Jack." Tiana replied, voice still caught up in fabric of Jack's shirt. She pulled away, just enough to crane her neck up to look at Jack. "You're my best friend." She repeated once again.

"You're my best friend, too." Jack reassured her. He pulled away even more, gently grabbing Tiana's small wrists and looking her in the eyes. "Listen, if I ever try to kiss you again, feel free to smack me okay? It'd be totally fine and that would be a quick and easy reality check."

Tiana smiled, amused by Jack's request. "No problem." Her smile faltered a bit as she began to process things. "Wait, so how will we deal with this right now?"

"With what?"

"The whole kissing thing."

"Oh. That." Jack slumped his shoulders and looked away, keeping his hold on Tiana's wrists. He ran through a handful of solutions in his head before ultimately deciding on one. "Well, we joke about it, I guess. That's what I'm comfortable with."

"Right, yeah, I agree." Tiana nodded, eager to confirm the idea of treating the whole incident like what it truly was- a simple mistake that could be made light of.

Jack smiled again, raising his eyebrows. "You kissed an award-winning soloist Tiana Helija. How does it feel?"

Tiana rolled her eyes and before she knew it, she was whacking his shoulder with her clutch playfully. "Shut up." Then she made a face, looking around. "Where's Sam?"

"Oh, one of her friends tracked me down a little bit ago. Apparently she left with them. But, y'know. It's, uh, whatever." Jack shook his shoulders and sighed contentedly. "Things are looking up already." He slung an arm over Tiana's shoulders, like he sometimes did when they would walk through the halls before the kissing incident- and now after.

"That they are." Tiana said, allowing Jack to walk her back into the cafeteria and to their friends.

* * *

"Wait, so something happened with them?" Aster asked, trying to get a legitimate answer out of Kris.

Kris buried his face in his hands before replying. "Aster, for last time. I cannot tell you. Is their business. I should not even know."

Aster was about to make a retort when Sandy cleared his throat, capturing the attention of the other two seniors. Sandy smiled, a calm and content one, as he pointed out Jack and Tiana, who were both smiling and talking as the made their way over to the table.

"Good thing you do know, mate." Aster muttered, not taking his eyes off of the other set of friends.

Jack and Tiana stood before everyone else happily before Jack gestured grandly to the masses of dancing people before them. "I know we've had it crazy for the past couple of days, but what's that to stop us from dancing?"

Aster looked at Kris and then Sandy, giving them questioning looks as to whether they should do it or not.

Kris shrugged before standing up and throwing his hands in the air. "We have marched, we have played! Let us dance!"

Aster and Sandy grinned before pushing back their chairs to stand and join the others as they strutted over to the dance floor.

As the five of them danced, not a care in the world now, a vengeful pair of hazel eyes watched, the owner of them huffing out angrily.

_Pitch is not going to like this._


	25. No Comin' Back From That

The band was practicing pep tunes for the first half of the week, trying to prepare themselves for what they did in stands. Tusk was up at the moment, one of the band's favorites and everyone seemed to get into it, with certain sections daring to swing their instruments to and fro in rhythm and the color guard doing a dance routine they made up just for that song.

About halfway through the piece, Aster sneezed for what felt like the hundredth time that day. He shook his head, blinking his eyes and trying to ignore the slight scratchy feeling in the back of his throat that had been there since he woke up that morning. Refusing to give the feelings much thought, he concentrated harder on conducting.

But just as the piece ended with a tag, Aster felt another sneeze coming on. And before he could stop it, he let out a much louder one.

A few 'bless you's were called to him and Aster simply waved them off and mumbled his thanks.

Rallon looked up from his spot in the flute section, giving Aster a look of concern. He walked over to the drum major before calling out the next piece, asking him, "Are you alright, Aster?"

Aster nodded, "Probably just allergies. They'll be gone by tonight, I bet."

Rallon paused for a moment, looking over Aster. "Alright, if you say so. Okay, you guys, let's get out 'Take on Me'!" A chorus of groans came from the trumpet section and Rallon added, "Hey, don't let me hear that! You can handle it!"

By the end of band, when everyone had dispersed from their chairs and stands and put up their instruments, Sandy, Aster, Kris, Jack, and Tiana all sat in a circle on the floor outside one of the practice rooms. Really, Aster should've been taking advantage of the free time for practicing too, but he felt a little too tired to do so.

_It's just allergies. That's all it is. I'll practice tomorrow._

The weather was getting a lot colder now, as everyone around the school slowly started to don heavy coats and closed-toe shoes. Rallon was already reminding everyone to wear either pajama pants or tights underneath their uniforms in place of shorts, as well as a long-sleeved shirt underneath to battle the chilly mid-October air.

So, allergies were something that were bound to bother Aster, right?

"We should do the movie night after Region." Tiana said, interrupting Aster's thoughts.

Jack nodded and then said sarcastically, "Yeah, that way if we do great, it'll be a celebration. If not- well, hey! At least we can watch a three-hour-long chick-flick!"

Tiana glared at Jack before swatting his arm. "It's not a chick-flick. I really think you guys'll enjoy it."

"What exactly is movie about?" Kris asked.

Tiana pondered for a moment, sorting out her explanation. "Well, it's kinda complicated. I've seen it a few times, but every time I notice something new. You'll see it soon enough, though."

"I think we'll do great at Region. The invitational seemed like a pretty good omen." Aster added, sniffing a bit.

Jack smirked, shoving the stuffy Australian lightly. "Only if you buck up and get rid of whatever's going on with your face right now."

Aster rolled his eyes. "Trust me. It will be gone in no time."

* * *

"I assume you've all got your current events done for this month." Mr. Monaghan stated from the front of the classroom. "We'll go on ahead and get those out of the way, and then I'll give you all your projects for next week."

Kris quickly leaned over and poked Aster's elbow. Aster was fast asleep, his head buried in his crossed arms. It was the second time he'd done it this week. He'd slept through a lecture in their 6th hour class the day before, which was something the focused drum major had never done.

"Aster. Aster. Wake up, friend. Time for current event." Kris prodded, whispering so that he wouldn't attract attention.

Tiana sat on the other side of Aster now, but she was too absorbed in getting her folder out of her backpack to notice Aster's mid-class slumber.

Aster stirred and slowly lifted his head up, blinking his bleary bloodshot eyes at Kris. "Hmmm?"

"It is time for current event presentation." Kris told him again.

His sleepy friend stared at him for a moment before blinking and nodding as he bent over to retrieve his backpack. He bent over a bit too far though and nearly tumbled out of his seat and onto the floor. Thankfully, Kris had seen the little mishap out of the corner of his eye and snatched the back of Aster's shirt, pulling him back up into an upright position as Aster flinched.

Snapping out of his tired haze, Aster rubbed his eyes and whispered to Kris, "Thanks."

Kris frowned, "Are you okay?"

Aster tried to get his backpack once more, successfully getting his own notebook out of his backpack for the current event. He didn't answer Kris until he was sitting in his seat, notebook front and center of him. "Yeah, I'm fine. I'm good. "

"That's what you said on Monday."

"Yeah and?"

"It is Wednesday, Aster."

Aster shot Kris an annoyed look. "_I'm fine._"

Kris wearily replied, "You better be."

* * *

Aster was not fine.

And he knew it, too.

By the time Friday rolled around and the bus was loading up, he felt absolutely terrible. His nose was stuffed beyond belief and his throat ached with a dry and scratching feeling. His mother even tried to get him to stay home the day before and on Friday, but to no avail, Aster still wanted to go to his last away game. So, he braved through, even joking around in the beginning of the bus trip with Kris, Tiana, Jack, and Sandy.

Everyone could tell he wasn't well, but by now they knew better than to bug him about something he would never confess to.

Although, as the night went on, he gradually got worse and worse. It didn't help that he also had to deal with the bitter sass of Pitch either, who could tell that Aster wasn't up to par.

Before he knew it, it was halftime.

"Okay you guys, take off your lyres and leave your music behind! It's time to practice!" Mr. Rallon shouted.

It took Aster a moment to realize what Rallon was saying, and by the time he did, Pitch was shoving past him and hissing, "Try not to cough on me."

Aster tried to glare, but was too busy trying to find his balance as he stumbled around. He nearly ran right into a saxophone before he realized he should probably just wait until the band members thinned out a bit. By the time he did, it was the trombones' turn and a familiar section leader clapped a hand on Aster's shoulder.

"We are going to own this town!" Kris bellowed.

Aster flinched, shying away from Kris's hand. "Please don't." he said weakly, dragging his feet towards the stairs.

Kris's face fell. Aster sounded nasally and his shoulders were hunched over in tiredness. "Maybe you should sit on the sidewalk or something. You do not sound good. Or look good for that matter."

Aster frowned and looked back at Kris. It was strange, how his eyes still shined a bright green, while the rest of his face looked sickly, cheeks bright red with what had to have been a fever. "What is that supposed to mean?"

"You are sick." Kris said plainly, rolling his eyes. "Why are you even here tonight?"

"Why am I here? Because I can't let Pitch have free reign. That's why. If it'd been anyone else in the world that conducted next to me every Friday night, I'd be more than content with the idea of leaving the band to them. But since it's one of the most intimidating and stuck-up jerks I've ever met, I'm not. So, here I am. Healthy or not, rain or shine, because I don't want the band to suffer his messed up attitude. Also, Region is only a week away." Aster ranted, his voice breaking towards the end from how sore it was.

"If you do not rest, you will get worse. That is when the band will suffer." Kris told him in a serious tone. He didn't like the idea of Pitch being the only one in charge of conducting either, but he also didn't like seeing his best friend being so obviously sick and still pushing himself past the limits.

Aster sighed, looking defeated. "Fine. I'll sit on the sidewalk until we get settled and Rallon walks over if you bring me my hat and a plume. Happy?"

Kris grinned, "Very much."

And so Aster reluctantly lowered himself onto the sidewalk in front of the band, obscuring the sidewalk from the few people that walked on it during the game. It felt nice actually, to get a little breather in between walking around and conducting and shouting (which was seriously about rub Aster's throat completely raw).

"You do realize that we still have a band to conduct to, right?" Pitch towered over Aster's sitting form, his arms crossed and eyes squinted.

Aster looked up at him, now giving him the glare he'd tried to earlier. "Yeah," his voice came out too thin, burning his throat. He tried to move past it, clearing his throat a couple of times before going on. "Yeah, I do."

Kris walked up then, trombone carefully held in one hand, leaning down to give Aster his drum major hat, while his own sat on his head, plume already in place. The Russian teen shot Pitch a dark look as Aster slipped on the hat and buckled it underneath. After that, Kris bent back down, setting his instrument on the grass next to them so that he could slip the plume into place on Aster's hat. "There. You are all set."

"Thanks." Aster mumbled, careful with his sore throat.

Pitch pointed at the bustling low brass section of the band before them, "Shouldn't you be helping out the younger trombones instead of babysitting your best friend?"

"Pitch, back off. Now isn't the time for this." Aster told him.

"Are you okay, Aster?" Tiana asked, appearing next to Kris, flag in her hands.

Pitch gave Tiana an annoyed look that she didn't see before walking away towards the front of the band.

"Yeah, I'm good. I'm good." The second time Aster said it, he was talking more to himself than to Tiana.

Rallon walked over, hands free of plumes, a few stray band parents trailing behind him, ready for anything Rallon might ask them to do. He went right past Tiana and Aster, yelling to the band. "Get out S.U.V!"

"That's my cue." Aster said.

"Mine too. See you on field!" Kris called as he scooped up his trombone and jogged away.

Aster attempted to get up, but found it a bit more difficult than he thought. "Uh, can you help me?"

Tiana held out a hand and Aster took it, hefting himself up with her help.

Tiana said something to him, even smiled her real smile, but Aster was too distracted to respond.

His head felt weird and before he knew it, the feeling had traveled down to his stomach, a wave of nausea rolling over him suddenly.

_No, not now, no, no, no-_

Aster bolted, running away from Tiana in search of a nearby trashcan. He came across the one by the back of the bleachers and grabbed the sides before promptly throwing up after.

"Oh! Oh my God!"

_Really? Of all the people?_

He didn't even have to turn around to know that it was the friendly color guard captain who had followed him. "Tiana, Ti-" Aster tried to speak, but he gagged.

"I'm going to get Rallon! Don't move!" She sounded frantic, almost scared to death, and then he heard her run away to the band.

Aster waited until it felt like he wasn't going to have a repeat incident before sinking down the ground, using one of the metal bars that held up the bleachers to lean against. Nobody was behind the bleachers, as there was nothing but a fence separating the football field from the school campus, except for him.

Soon enough, Mr. Rallon and Tiana made it back with Mrs. Daley hesitantly approaching behind them.

Mr. Rallon's face contorted in worry, something that scared Aster more than anything. Rallon never looked worried and seeing him look that way had to be serious. "Aster, what are you doing here tonight?"

"The band…" Aster pointed, but Rallon made a dismissive gesture and crouched down in front of him.

Aster sat up straighter, crossing his legs and trying to seem more put together.

Rallon looked back to Tiana, "Does he have a fever?"

Before Aster could protest, Tiana bent down and pressed her slender hand against his forehead, pushing up his bangs. Her hand felt like ice to him and he cringed away from the sensation.

"Yeah, he does." Tiana confirmed.

"No, I don't. Your hands are probably just really cold. It's freezing out here tonight." Aster argued, but the longer her hand rested on his face, the better it felt.

Tiana made a face, gave Rallon a concerned look, and then pressed both hands to either side of his face. "Does that feel good?"

Aster knew it probably wasn't a good sign that it did and that if he admitted that, they'd know for sure he wasn't feeling well. But he didn't want Tiana to take her hands away, along with the now comfortably cool feeling. "Yeah."

Tiana's hands slipped away anyway and she stood, crossing her arms.

Rallon looked down at the ground, trying to think.

Mrs. Daley finally spoke up, "I don't think he's fit to conduct tonight, Rallon."

Mr. Rallon peered up at her, sighing. "Yeah, I know." Aster started to say that he was fine, but Rallon held up a hand. "Aster, if I put you on that field and you get sick again… Well, there's no coming back from that honestly." He laughed a bit before going on. "We'll help you over to the sidelines, get you a chair, but it'd probably be best that we keep you near a trash can and out of plain sight."

Aster bit his lip, knowing that he couldn't argue any farther. Rallon did have a point and so did Kris. If he really wanted the band to do well, he'd have to sit out this one game.

"Too far of a drive for your folks to come and get you, too. By the time they got here, we'd be gone." Rallon stated. "Do you think you'd be up for a ride back home on the band bus? If not, I'm pretty sure that there's room on the truck that pulls the trailer."

Aster shook his head, denying the offer. "I'll be alright on the bus."

Rallon nodded before turning and standing up. "Help me get Aster." He told Tiana.

The shorter girl nodded and then reached downward, taking Aster's left hand while Rallon took his right.

"Don't get up too fast." Rallon said as they slowly pulled him into a stand.

But even then, Aster got sick once more, jerking around to the trash can again and retching.

Tiana sympathetically rubbed a hand on his back until he was done and then kept it there.

Rallon still looked just as worried, but he still had a band and another drum major to tend to. "Do you think you could take care of Aster? I need to tell Pitch and help him warm up the band."

Mrs. Daley nodded, "No problem. Tiana, go wet some paper towels with cold water and some plain napkins and bring them back. Aster, do you take Tylenol or something else? We need to take care of that fever."

Aster shrugged, incredibly weakened by his second round of sickness. "Whatever's fine." He watched as Rallon departed after thanking Mrs. Daley and told Pitch the news. He was better at hiding emotions than Aster thought, as Pitch didn't show any hint of satisfaction.

_I know what you're thinkin'. Rallon doesn't, but I do. Don't get too excited, Pitch. It's only this one time._


	26. The Start of a Crescendo of Sorts

Having only one drum major wasn't okay.

Like at all.

Not one bit.

Nope.

Not okay.

Aster was all but kicking himself as he got on the bus and sat down, ravaged by the horrendous sounds the band had made during halftime.

Phrases were started too early or too late too often, confusing those that knew what they were doing. It was mostly the side that Aster usually conducted on, as Rallon kept Pitch on his side of the field that night while he observed on the sidelines next to Aster. The entire time, Rallon was silent, jaw set with a painfully blank stare.

One could only imagine what he was thinking and if they did, it was not good.

The band got quite the lecture after that one. Rallon wasn't angry with the band, just disappointed. He knew that they were missing a drum major, so all he could do was tell them that this was a one time thing that happened last minute.

"Don't let this affect your thinking about Region. Everyone did great at the invitational and we all know that. This is just a little mishap and we'll pave right over it. We have to. So, this coming week we're gonna start cracking down on all of you guys. No messing around, no half-given effort, or anything of the sort. Understand?" Rallon called out.

All of the band agreed with him before everyone went their own way.

The game was over now, Burgess losing yet another game, and everyone was filing onto the buses.

Tiana was getting on, right behind Jack and ready to take the seat behind Aster with him. But then she saw how bad Aster looked.

His fever was gone by now, but his skin was still flushed with whatever sickness he had. He didn't throw up after what happened right before halftime, either, but Rallon insisted he keep a trashcan nearby just in case. His uniform top was off, piled on to his lap, almost like a blanket while his eyes remained shut.

Tiana bit the inside of cheek as she glanced over the usually-tough drum major. And then she snagged Jack's own uniform sleeve quickly.

Jack jerked around just before he sat down in the seat. "What is it?"

She leaned forward and said quietly and quickly. "I think I'm gonna sit with Aster. He's not looking too well and I wanna make sure he'll get through the bus ride without a problem."

Jack gave Aster a look, frowning. Then he looked back to Tiana. "Okay."

Tiana smiled, patted Jack on the shoulder and then slid into Aster's seat.

His eyes snapped open and he set them Tiana, alarmed by her sudden presence. "What are you doing?"

"Just making sure you'll be okay." Tiana replied.

"I'm sick, though."

"Oh, now you admit it." She rolled her eyes as she laughed lightly.

Aster couldn't help but smile in return at the sound. But then his face fell as he realized how close Tiana was to him. "I don't want to get you sick, too. Whatever this is- it's not fun."

"I'll be fine." Tiana assured him.

Aster watched her for a moment as she began to shed her green jacket, revealing her color guard uniform underneath. "Switch me spots."

Tiana looked at him questioningly, frozen in the middle of taking off her jacket. "What?"

"Switch me spots." He repeated, grabbing his uniform top and standing. "I can get to the trashcan a lot easier if I'm on the outside."

"Oh! Okay, sure." Tiana got up and slid in to the now-empty aisle, getting in once Aster was out as well.

They sat in silence for a few moments, until Jack poked his head over the seat, peering at Tiana and Aster curiously. "I hope you two know that this calls for hand-checks every 15 minutes."

Tiana's jaw dropped and her face reddened. She swung her purse back, hitting Jack square in the face. "Shut up, Jack!"

Jack jerked back, rubbing his nose. "Jeez, woman! What do you keep in there? Bricks? I was kidding!" He slumped back into his seat, mumbling, "Always hitting me and whatnot."

Aster shook his head, smiling to himself as Tiana turned back around in her seat, shoving her purse underneath it.

"Sorry." Tiana muttered as she went to undo her bun.

"It's fine. I'm just glad to be back on the bus." Aster told her.

"I think we all are. I mean, after that performance…" Tiana bit her lip and looked at Aster woefully.

Aster frowned. "I know, but I'll be back in time for us to do well at Region. I promise."

Tiana gave him just a hint of smile and then turned away, tugging the elastic out of her hair, allowing her hair to fall down her shoulders and send a waft of that same cherry-almond scent out to Aster.

Mr. Rallon stepped on then, distracting a now awe-struck Aster, and began to call roll.

Pretty soon, they were back on the road, the familiar hum of band members chatting around them. Aster was leaning his head against the back of the seat, his eyes shut. The nauseated feeling was gone for now, and his head was no longer pounding with a fever. He was starting to drift off to sleep every now and then, only to be jerked awake by himself tilting his head to far in one direction.

About the fifth time he did it, Tiana took notice. She'd been texting Jack, so she wouldn't disturb Aster, about a Digital Communications project.

"You alright?"

"Huh? Yeah. Yeah, I'm fine."

Tiana made a face. "How many times are you going to say that when it's so not true?"

"I guess until it actually is true." Aster smirked. "I'm okay. I'm just trying to get comfortable on the stupid bus."

Tiana blinked, wondering to herself what she should do. As soon as an idea came into her head, she blurted it out. "Uhwellyoucouldleanonmeifyouwant."

The Australian gave her a confused look, trying to decipher what exactly Tiana had just said. When that didn't work he asked, "What?"

"Leanonme. Ifyouwant. Imean." She laughed nervously, grabbing her hair and pulling it to one side so she could twist it.

"Wha- Lean? Lean on you? Is that what you said?" Aster asked, a grin creeping onto his face.

"Uh. Uh. Yeah. That's what I said."

For a moment, Aster didn't say anything and Tiana worried if she pushed too far.

Get ready to be rejected. Seriously, why can't I just keep my freaking mouth shut?

"Sure."

Tiana's eyes widened. "Oh! Uh, okay!"

Aster was grinning full-out as he leaned over and rested his head on Tiana's shoulder. "Thanks." He mumbled.

"No, uh, problem."

She worried that things would be awkward, but Aster just lay against her, breathing softly. What she didn't know was that Aster was enjoying every moment of it too. The cherry-almond scent was considerably stronger now, as her hair nearly hung right in front of his face. Soon enough, Aster dozed off on the scent of it, relaxing quite a bit. He ended up shifting, causing him to involuntarily press his forehead into her neck.

Tiana blushed, even though no one was looking at them.

Oh my God, this is really happening.

Apparently, Jack had heard everything and smiled to himself as he shot off a text to Tiana.

She received it and opened it.

**Smooth as gravel, T. Smooth. As. Gravel.**

Tiana laughed a bit, reminding herself to tell him to shut up once they got to the school.

For now, she'd have to stay quiet.

* * *

Pitch was the last to leave the band room, as the drum majors usually stayed behind to talk to section leaders, Mrs. Daley, and Rallon. Aster had left from the very beginning, having been helped out by his new ring of friends.

Rallon still stood in his office, though, sorting out papers on his desk for Monday.

Pitch had taken off his uniform top, but left the pants on, deciding to take them off later. He had just slung the half empty uniform bag over his shoulder and was about to leave when he heard Rallon sigh sadly and mumble, "Oh, man."

Freezing in his steps, Pitch turned slowly, unsure of what problem the older man could be having. He wanted to leave, but he was a drum major. He couldn't just leave his band director all alone if he was in distress- no matter how much he wanted to. "Uhhh… Rallon? Are you okay?"

Rallon looked up and frowned before glancing back down at the papers. "Yeah, it's just…" And then he looked up once more, this time a horribly sad look on his face. "Pitch, I need to tell you something. Something that needs to stay a secret for now. Can you handle that?"

Pitch furrowed his eyebrows, taking a few more steps towards the band director. What is going on? "Uh, yes."

Rallon walked out of the office and placed a hand on Pitch's shoulder. "It's the board. The Arts have been suffering quite a lot in the past couple of years at this school, more specifically- music. I've managed to fight them off about shutting down band, but this year they're making a final decision. We did great at the invitational and they know that. However, once they catch wind on how bad- and let it be known that it's not your fault, Pitch- we did tonight, they'll be breathing down our necks when we head off to Region."

Pitch's eyes widened and he couldn't help but gasp in sincere shock. "What? They're shutting down band?"

"Trying to. But, Pitch, listen to me. You cannot tell a soul about this. If anyone finds out, nobody will be having any fun or anything of the sort. They'll be too worried about the board and that's the last thing I want. That's not what band is about. Do you understand?" Rallon explained.

The grey-eyed teen nodded, still flabbergasted by Rallon's reveal. "But-But why do they want to shut it down?"

"School's on a tight budget. Even though everyone in band pays their own way, whether it be through fundraisers or out of their own pocket, we still get a bit of money here and there to help out. They figure they can take what little we have and give it away to some other activity instead."

"Oh."

Rallon gave him a sad look, before managing to smile a bit. "Don't worry about it, Pitch. We're gonna do great at Region and the board will back off and leave us alone for good. Now I need to get home, so I suggest you go on and get out of here so I can lock up." He took his hand off of Pitch's shoulder. "See you on Monday."

For a moment, Pitch didn't move. But slowly, he regained his senses and nodded before turning and walking out the door. "See you on Monday." he mimicked as he strutted out the door.

It wasn't until he'd made it to the front of the high school that the enormity of Rallon's explanation hit him.

The board will shut down band if we do bad at Region. Without Aster we're sure to fail.

Smiling that same devious smile, he shoved his way through the doors, allowing himself a dark laugh once he'd stepped out into the cold night air.

"Oh, what a night. What a great, great night." Pitch said, marveling to himself.

Once he told Stella his latest discovery and had her on board with whatever plan he was going to come up with, the band wouldn't stand a chance.

* * *

Author's Note: Uh oh. Seems like things are going good- and bad. Anyhow, sorry this chapter is a day late. I'm still pretty busy, but I'm still determined to keep up with this fanfiction. I appreciate all the reviews and I hope to see some more perhaps? :) Hope to post another chapter on Friday!


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